ABSTRACT
The Conclusion maps out the long-term history of childhood. Continuity is the key to understanding the medieval and sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the crucial imprint being made by Christianity. The eighteenth century witnessed the development of a secular view of children and of childhood. Influenced by the ideas of Locke and Rousseau, reformers began to separate out childhood and adulthood, proclaiming childhood to be the happiest time of life. But towards the end of the twentieth century this separation began to break down, in part because children began to acquire rights to a say in anything that bore on their present or future. The balance of power in families shifted from parent to child.
