The UK welfare system is not helping enough people into work and has significantly rising costs, and no one should think the government is backing away from reforming it, the work and pensions secretary has said.

Pat McFadden made the comments as the government published its new child poverty strategy on Friday.

He said the aim of the strategy was to improve young lives for the long term and that those lifted out of hardship are likely to have improved prospects for employment in the future.

“This is about more than the distribution of money. It’s an investment in the future of the children who are affected by poverty,” he said.

McFadden added that further changes to the welfare system to encourage work were important for improving children’s lives, arguing that getting people into j

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