David Cameron today confirmed he was looking at Iain Duncan Smith's radical welfare reforms

Workers could be forced to save for their own benefits under radical new government proposals, David Cameron revealed today.

Under plans put forward by the Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, workers would put part of their pay packets into a special savings account to cover sickness and unemployment benefits.

The Prime Minister this morning confirmed it was 'an idea that should be looked at' and claimed more needed to be done to encourage 'personal responsibility'.

It comes after Mr Duncan Smith said he was 'very keen' to start the debate over whether or not the government should force people to save for benefits.

In last week's budget, the Chancellor George Osborne opened the door for new pension ISAs, which would mean workers paying saving into personal accounts for their retirement.

Mr Duncan Smith said people could use this accounts when they are sick or jobless.

He said: 'We need to support the kind of products that allow people through their lives to dip in and out when they need the money for sickness or care or unemployment,' he told The Sunday Telegraph.

The system is used in Singapore, where people are forced to save a fixed proportion of their income to fund medical and retirement care.

Mr Duncan Smith said: 'We need to encourage people to save from day one but they need to know that they can get some of the money out when their circumstances change.'

The Prime Minister's official spokeswoman this morning confirmed the proposal was being considered.

She said: 'The Prime Minister shares the Work and Pensions Secretary's view that we should be doing more to encourage people to take personal responsibility for how they manage their affairs and prepare for eventualities in the future.

'This isn't government policy, it's an idea that's out there. The work and pensions secretary was clear in his view. It's an idea that should be looked at.'

Under plans put forward by the Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, workers would put part of their pay packets into a special savings account to cover sickness and unemployment benefits

Mr Duncan Smith also called on businesses to do more for workers who are sick.

The top Tory said: 'At the moment the system is all about you having to prove you are too sick to work when we should be saying, Can you do some work and how can we support you? We are the worst country at this.