Banning child corporal punishment

Experiences of child corporal punishment are a robust predictor of many adverse life outcomes including decreased emotional functioning, increased levels of aggression, lower educational attainment, adverse labor market outcomes as well as the use of violence against spouses and own children. From a global perspective, children in developing countries are substantially more likely to experience corporal punishment, and within countries, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely exposed to corporal punishment. These unequal childhood experiences likely hamper intergenerational upward mobility and perpetuate inequalities both within and across countries. While there are frequent calls to make the physical punishment of children illegal, there is little systematic evidence on how effective they are at altering children’s experiences. This project studies how changes in public policy that prohibit child corporal punishment in the public and private sphere affect children and parents. Specifically, we will study how banning physical punishment by teachers in schools and parents at home affects children’s experiences of corporal punishment, their accumulation of human capital and adult use of corporal punishment when becoming a parent. To answer these research questions, we will use data from the World Parenting Survey containing information on parenting practices in 42 countries as well as data from TIMSS, PIRLS and PISA containing international assessments of student achievement in over 90 countries. This project will contribute by providing first-time, comprehensive global evidence on whether banning child corporal punishment improves the lives of children and leads to more equitable societies.