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Labour are to warn children will be hit by their opponents' spending cuts, as they seek to refocus the campaign on "major policy issues".Lib Dem plans to axe child trust funds and Tory proposals to scale back child tax credits put children "in the frontline" of cuts, Labour will argue.
The Tories will say a "broken society" has blighted millions of lives, while the Lib Dems will focus on the NHS.
The parties continue to row over what may happen after the election on 6 May.
The latest opinion polls have suggested no single party is on course to win an outright majority, which would lead to a hung parliament and questions over who would form a government.
Monday's campaigning was dominated by talk about post-election scenarios, with the Conservatives saying a hung parliament would "paralyse" the UK's economy and create a political "stitch-up".
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg argues such a situation could usher in political reform and bring an end to what he says is the "preposterous" current system for electing MPs.
But Prime Minister Gordon Brown argued it was "arrogant" to discuss Westminster deals before polling day, and wrong to second-guess the outcome of the election.
With nine days to go before people go to the polls, Mr Brown has said the campaign is entering a "new phase" focused on major policy issues.
'Family-friendly'
On Tuesday, Labour will defend their record on childcare, nursery education and flexible working.
They will also seek to highlight what they say are their rivals' plans for cuts in key programmes hitting people on middle and modest incomes.
Labour have already warned of the prospect of a "toddler tax" should the Conservatives win the election, with nurseries being allowed to charge "top-up fees", and challenged the Tories to match their spending commitments on schools and Sure Start centres.
The Conservatives say their manifesto is the most family-friendly ever produced by a British party.
Party leader David Cameron will focus on social policy on Tuesday, defending his depiction of British society as "broken".
Mr Clegg, meanwhile, will focus on the challenges facing the NHS as he addresses the Royal College of Nursing's annual conference.
He will say politicians have a duty to say how they will "protect and improve" the NHS in the face of the anticipated public sector spending cuts.
"It is only the skills, innovation and ideas of the nursing staff of our health service that can protect it from the cuts you fear," he will say.
"We need to change the way power flows in the NHS. You should be telling us how to run it, not the other way around."
'Traditional foe'
The campaign continues to be overshadowed by speculation about what may happen in the event of an inconclusive election result.
The Conservatives have accused the Lib Dems of wanting to "hold the whole country to ransom", after they suggested backing for electoral reform would be a pre-condition of their willingness to support any minority government.
The Lib Dems say a proportional representation system of voting would more fairly reflect the will of the electorate, but the Tories say this would lead to a "permanent hung Parliament".
"Our traditional foe has been the Labour Party," shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC's Campaign Show on Monday evening.
"Now the foe is uncertainty and indecision."
Mr Hunt said the choice was between a "decisive" Conservative victory and an inconclusive result which would make it difficult to take decisions on the economy and crime.
"That is the argument we have to win," he stressed.
But Mr Clegg has come under fire for saying he would not be willing to "prop up" a minority Labour government headed by Gordon Brown, if it came third in the polls, but then suggesting he might consider doing just that if Labour changed its leader.
The BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson said this raised the "extraordinary" possibility that the Lib Dems could end up helping choose who leads the country, and that this might be someone other than the current leaders of the three largest parties.
The BBC's polling expert David Cowling said the most recent clutch of polls showed that the election was still a "genuinely close" three-horse race.
A YouGov poll for the Sun, published on Monday, puts the Conservatives in the lead with 33%, the Lib Dems on 29% and Labour on 28%. An ICM poll for the Guardian puts the Conservatives on 33%, the Lib Dems on 30% and Labour on 28%.
Meanwhile, a ComRes poll for ITV News and the Independent puts the Conservatives on 32%, the Lib Dems on 31% and Labour on 28%.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.