Welfare report costs $10 million

The federal government is paying $10 million for a report identifying Australians likely to be on welfare for long periods.

The first part of the report, released in September, targeted young parents, carers and students at risk of being stuck on social security for the rest of their lives.

The "investment approach" to welfare report showed how those cohorts would cost the taxpayers billions of dollars over their lifetimes.

Department of Social Services officials told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday the contract to PricewaterhouseCoopers over four years would cost just more than $10 million.

Asked why it was not able to conduct the study in-house, the department told the committee it did not have enough expertise in actuarial analysis.