Home Secretary Jack Straw insists the proposals are not tantamount to telling people how to live their lives.

BBC Social Affairs Correspondent Alison Holt: The government will have to convince people it is not interfering

The consultation paper brings together the policies of various government departments as well as introducing new wide-ranging proposals.

It attempts to strike a balance between supporting marriage and not condemning the lifestyles of those who choose not to marry.

The home secretary told the BBC: "We're not interfering with the family but what we are doing is recognising the family is under quite severe strain."

Mr Straw, who has been divorced and was brought up in a single parent household, said it was "no business of government to tell adults how to conduct their adult personal relationships".

But there are several issues where the government wants to be seen to be acting, including the rising number of teenage pregnancies and child poverty.

The home secretary also said the adoption to homosexual couples was not generally approved of by the government.

Jack Straw: "Stability is more likely to occur where the parents are married"

He said: "We should not see children as trophies.

"Children are best brought up where you have two natural parents in a stable relationship. There's no question about that.

"What we know from the evidence is that generally speaking that stability is more likely to occur where the parents are married than where they are not."

The paper is a careful balance

The paper has detailed five main areas where the government wants to see more action.

They include providing more advice and support to families, strengthening marriage, tackling child poverty, balancing work and home commitments and tackling the most serious problems of family life such as domestic violence, truancy and teenage pregnancies.

The proposals include establishing a National Institute for Parenting and the Family to offer practical advice to parents and enhanced preparation courses for marrying couples.

Jack Straw: "Children are not trophies"

Writing in The Express, Prime Minister Tony Blair described the package of measures as "practical measures to support family life, to offer help when wanted so that families can bring up their children properly".

But Deputy Conservative leader Peter Lilley accused the government of only introducing minor changes, and discriminating against couples where one partner stayed at home to bring up the children.

He said: "We support the objective but we think it's a missed opportunity to offer real support to families looking after their own children.

"One of the most powerful ways government can influence families is through the tax system. It can offer real support and it can send powerful signals.

"But they propose to end the last recognition of marriage in the tax system by phasing out the Married Couple's Allowance, and they are doing nothing to end discrimination against married couples who look after their own children which we propose that they should."

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesman Alan Beith said: "The evidence suggests that strong, stable family relationships provide the best start for children.

"Where possible, government should support such relationships but they must be wary of straying too far into the territory of telling parents what is best.