Hitting children (often referred to as smacking) by parents or caregivers as a form of punishment is linked to behavioral problems and worse exam results and should be prohibited in England and Northern Ireland as soon as possible, UCL researchers say.
In a new report published by UCL today (Thursday June 11) entitled Physical punishment and child outcomes in the UK, the researchers found that children in England who experienced physical punishment at the ages of three, five and seven were 5.7 percentage points more likely not to get five GCSE grades A* to C (or between nine and four) including English and Maths compared with children who hadn't experienced it (48 per cent versus 42.3 per cent), once other factors were taken into account.
Similarly, children who experienced physical punishment at all three ages were 40 per cent more likely to engage in risky behaviors towards others such as bullying or having hit, shoved or pushed someone aged 14 and 26 per cent more likely aged 17.
Striking a child is outlawed in Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland but remains legal in England and Northern Ireland. Proposals to make physical punishment illegal have just been dropped in Northern Ireland – similar plans were abandoned in England last year. Worldwide, using physical punishment against children is banned in 70 countries.
The new research, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and supported by the NSPCC, is the first to focus on UK data relating to the impact of physical punishment on children – previous studies have focused mostly on data from the USA.
Lead author Dr Anja Heilmann (UCL Epidemiology & Public Health) said: "Our findings corroborate previous evidence that physical punishment has no benefits and is linked to detrimental outcomes for children's development and wellbeing. Therefore, our main recommendation is that England and Northern Ireland should follow Scotland and Wales and remove the legal defense of reasonable punishment.
The decisions by lawmakers in Northern Ireland, and last year in England, to drop plans to outlaw physical punishment are a huge missed opportunity and deeply disappointing. Children have the right to be brought up free from all forms of violence. It cannot be right that, in 2026, children in England and Northern Ireland have less legal protection from physical harm than adults."
Dr. Anja Heilmann, Epidemiology & Public Health, UCL
"Our children must not receive the message that we can enforce our will on others through inflicting physical pain. Reforming the law in England and Northern Ireland would signal that violence is never acceptable."
Co-author Dr Becca Lacey, Reader in Social and Lifecourse Epidemiology at City St George's, University of London and Deputy Director of the UCL-led Equalise: ESRC Centre for Lifecourse Health Equity, said: "Physical punishment is the most common and socially accepted form of violence against children, including in the UK.
"The simple truth, as our research shows, is that physically punishing a child has no benefits. Instead, it is associated with a range of shorter- and longer-term detrimental outcomes for those children, including increased risks of poorer educational attainment and adolescent antisocial behaviors.
"The experience of abolishing the defense of reasonable punishment in Scotland and Wales provides valuable insights and learnings for the rest of the UK and beyond.
"Reforming the law requires political will and leadership, and careful implementation. Once achieved, societal acceptance of law reform is high."
Although in the UK parents' use of physical punishment has declined over time, it still affects a substantial proportion of UK children.
The study shows that as recently as 2021 one in five 10-year-olds had been physically punished in some way.
For the study, the researchers used quantitative and qualitative methods.
The quantitative workstream aimed to examine the prevalence of physical punishment in the UK, as well as associations between physical punishment and children's behavioral, cognitive and educational outcomes. The qualitative workstream sought to explore the decision-making processes around law reform in the four UK countries and to identify transferable learnings.
For the quantitative workstream, most of their analyses used data from the UCL-led Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a nationally representative, longitudinal study that follows the lives of around 19,000 children who were born in the UK between 2000 and 2002.
They analyzed data collected at regular intervals from age nine months to 17 years to examine how physical punishment related to family characteristics and child outcomes over time.
The MCS also includes datasets linking information from the National Pupil Database for pupils in England, which were used to examine whether physical punishment was associated with educational attainment when the child was older.
In terms of risky behaviors towards others, the study found that at aged 14, adolescents who had experienced any physical punishment in early childhood (age 3-7) were 33% more likely to have engaged in any risky behaviors towards others, including:
- 35% more likely having hit, pushed, or shoved someone
- 41% more likely to report bullying siblings
- 26% more likely to report having engaged in cyberbullying
- and 25% more likely to report having engaged in other bullying, compared to those who did not experience it.
For their qualitative workstream, they interviewed 29 stakeholders across all four UK countries, representing multiple sectors with a professional or organizational interest in the subject of physical punishment.
Key findings from that workstream included that successful advocacy for law reform requires broad, multisectoral coalitions including stakeholders from public health, social care, parent organizations, faith groups and police. Also, that Wales's implementation serves as a useful blueprint for change in England and Northern Ireland.
MP Jess Asato, who is due to attend the report's launch in Parliament later today (Thursday), said: "This latest report from UCL confirms that physically punishing children does not improve behavior and is instead linked to a range of poor life outcomes, including ones which cost the state money.
"The Government must act on the recommendations of this report urgently. Scotland and Wales have already shown there is a way forward that works. Now it is time for England to follow."
Joanna Barrett, Associate Head of Policy at the NSPCC, said: "It is unacceptable that in England and Northern Ireland the law still allows a parent or carer to physically punish a child in the name of discipline.
"This UCL research shows yet again that physical punishment does not improve children's behavior and in fact has an adverse impact on their wellbeing and links to poorer outcomes in the future.
"Like is already the case in Scotland and Wales, children in England and Northern Ireland should be afforded the same protection from assault as adults. It's time to change the law and remove the defense of reasonable punishment once and for all."
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