In the era of late modernity the place of the child and childhood in society is changing. Traditional approaches are facing the new ones. An example of a little-known in our country’s approach is the concept of the German sociologist Manfred Liebel. This researcher focuses on the right to self-determination and empowerment of the child. His major work was the work of children, searching for different sources of income to support their own families. The concept of subjectivity Liebel contrasts with popular ideas on child labor and so-called street children, because most of the material came from studies of children of poor families living in metropolitan areas of Latin America. In this paper we present the research conducted recently, in the period from February 2011 to September 2012 in the region of Malopolska, with particular emphasis on Krakow, among children assisted by social welfare institutions and pupils in primary and secondary school, aged from 10 to 15. We employed a conversational analysis in the study. It encompassed a thousand girls and boys. Herein, we present the main results of the research as well as findings on the relationship between children and adults in the context of social policy.