"CHILDREN'S TURN" IN SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL POLICY

Increasingly, social research is devoted to the issue of age, with particular emphasis on the extreme stages of human life, i.e. childhood and old age. While sociologists in recent years have elaborated many works dedicated to aging and old age the issue of childhood is slowly achieving a similar meaning. In our article we examine the profound changes that have taken place in the scientific discourse and public policy towards children and young people. The demographic crisis has contributed to the emphasis on the importance of the younger generation for a stable and sustainable social development. We document the changes which have taken place in Poland in the context of social problems and psychological changes during childhood. We conclude that the growing and extensive research and numerous reports provide a good basis for further work toward reformulating social policy towards children and childhood taking into consideration current demographic trends.