The MORI survey of 2,004 adults found that 74 per cent of parents, 76 per cent of young adults under 24 and 73 per cent of women are most likely to support reform. But almost three in ten (29 per cent) went further than this and said 'children should be given more legal protection from being hit than adults'.
An amendment to the Children Bill currently before Parliament is seeking the removal of the 'reasonable chastisement' justification for corporal punishment, which dates back to 1860. The Alliance, which represents more than 350 organisations including the NSPCC, Barnardo's, Save the Children, NCH and the National Children's Bureau, is pressing for MPs to have 'a free conscience vote' on the amendment.
Mary Marsh, NSPCC director and chief executive, welcomed the poll result, which she said 'shows that the general public supports sensible and fair modernisation of the law to give children equal protection'. She added, 'In the 21st century, equal protection must be every child's right. It is vital that hitting children becomes as socially unacceptable as hitting anyone else, which means modernising the law, as at least ten other European countries have done successfully.
'Children are the weakest and most fragile in our society. The least we should do is afford them equal protection, backed up by mass public education on positive parenting and greater support for parents.
'The time is right for us all to move on, and so should the law.
Professionals and the public are united behind equal protection reform, and the politicians should listen and lead.'
The MORI survey also found that 56 per cent of adults are opposed to children being hit. It was carried out between 26 February and 2 March.
The Children are Unbeatable! Alliance is supported by 180 MPs and peers, the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights and the House of Commons Health Select Committee, as well as the National Assembly of Wales.
* A study in the American journal Pediatrics has found that children aged under two who were regularly smacked were 'substantially more likely to have behaviour problems' after starting school at the age of six.