Chancellor George Osborne is to defend benefits and tax changes, saying "this month we will make work pay".
In a speech on Tuesday, Mr Osborne will say about nine out of 10 working households will be better off.
The shake-up, including cuts to housing benefit for some social housing tenants with a spare room and alterations to council tax, took effect on Monday.
Some churches, charities and campaign groups, as well as the Labour Party, have criticised the changes as unjust.
Key priorityThis month saw the start of sweeping changes across public services including reform of the benefits system.
There was also a major reorganisation of the way the NHS commissions services in England, and the withdrawal of legal aid for thousands of cases in England and Wales including divorce and child custody disputes.
Welfare reform - a key priority for the government - is proving to be the most controversial of the changes.
Mr Osborne argues that the government has had to take difficult decisions to cut the deficit and the current benefits system is fundamentally "broken".
The focus is on changes including:
- The introduction of a £26,000 cap on the amount of benefits a household can receive
- Cutting corporation tax to help create jobs
- Increasing the point at which people begin paying tax to almost £10,000
The chancellor believes the changes to benefits and tax will be fairer and help ensure that the country can live within its means and compete globally.
He also believes the changes have support, saying those who do not agree with him are on the wrong side of the public.
Labour says the reforms will hit the poorest 10% of people hardest while those in the top 10% will gain.
However, Mr Osborne is set to say: "For too long, we've had a system where people who did the right thing - who get up in the morning and work hard - felt penalised for it, while people who did the wrong thing got rewarded for it.
"That's wrong. So this month we're going to put things right.
"This month, around nine out of 10 working households will be better off as a result of the changes we are making. This month we will make work pay."
He will add: "Now, those who defend the current benefit system are going to complain loudly. These vested interests always complain, with depressingly predictable outrage, about every change to a system which is failing.
"I want to take the argument to them. Because defending every line item of welfare spending isn't credible in the current economic environment. Because defending benefits that trap people in poverty and penalise work is defending the indefensible."
Petition startedOn Monday, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith insisted changes to the welfare system were fair.
When asked if he could live on £53 a week, in response to a question posed by a working benefits claimant, Mr Duncan Smith said: "If I had to I would."
Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne it had been a day of "big winners and big losers".
"You've got millionaires who are getting a whopping great tax cut of £100,000 per year and everyone else is taking a hit to tax credits. We think that basic strategy is simply unfair," he said.
A petition challenging Mr Duncan Smith to prove his claim was setup on the Change.org website.
By 01:00 BST on Tuesday, the petition had been signed by more than 109,000 people.
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