TORY austerity policies has left more than a fifth of all children born after 2013 scarred by poverty, according to a University of Oxford study published today.

Young people belonging to the “austerity generation” have spent at least six of their 11 first years of life living in poverty, due to policies enacted by consecutive Conservative governments.

The study highlighted the effects of welfare spending cuts such as the two-child benefit cap, which plunged hundreds of thousands of children into prolonged poverty.

Sustained cuts in their formative years caused them long-term harm to their health, education and opportunities in life, the study found.

Study co-author Selcuk Beduk said post-2013 austerity meant long-term poverty has become a defining factor in the childhood of about 23 per cent of young British people.

Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) co-founder Linda Burnip said the results of this survey “come as no surprise.”

She told the Morning Star: “Something that is rarely mentioned alongside the scrapping of the two-child limit is that this in itself may not lead to a higher family income due to the punitive benefits cap levels which are still operating and leaving many families still in a state of destitution.

“Obviously for families with a disabled child or children this will be even worse due to the higher costs of being disabled.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: “One of the finest achievements of the last Labour government was lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and improving their life chances.

“The policies pursued by the Conservative Party in their time in power saw too many children and families suffer. We can’t turn back the clock on that period, but this Labour government is turning the tide on these Tory decisions.”