Duncan Smith was speaking at the launch of a new pilot project by volunteering charity CSV. It is being funded by minister for welfare reform Lord Freud.
The project, Grandmentors, will see more volunteers aged 50 or above mentoring young people aged between 14 and 18, with a particular focus on those not in employment, education or training.
Duncan Smith praised the idea and revealed that peer mentoring will be "at the heart" of everything the Department for Work and Pensions does.
"People need support from those who have been around a while and people who have wise heads," he said. "Whatever we do in our back-to-work programme, mentoring will form part of this."
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