Elisabetta De Cao (University of Bologna)
Filippo Pavanello and Philipp Anthony Naß
Harsh parenting is a form of violence against children that includes the use of corporal or emotional punishment to correct misbehavior. In this paper, we examine whether hot days lead to a higher probability of using harsh parenting. Our analysis focuses on Africa, a region particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and where violence against children remains widespread. We combine georeferenced data on child discipline practices from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), covering 20 countries, with granular weather data. Exploiting 30-day random fluctuations in temperature, we find that hotter days are associated with an increase in severe physical punishment. The effect does not vary by child gender, but is stronger in rural areas. Interestingly, it is fully mitigated in countries where corporal punishment in schools is illegal.