This monograph is a series of papers presented at a conference held at De Montfort University,Leicester, in October 1993. The papers address the following issues: young persons and the rights to independence under the Children Act 1989; the implications of the Child Support Act 1991 for children and their families and its taxation implications; recent developments in withholding and giving of medical consent where the child is Gillick competent and the area of parents consenting on behalf of a child for non-therapeutic medical treatment. The following aspects of the Children Act 1989 are also included: joint parenting; the implementation of the requirements of day care centres; the use of prohibited step orders and the protection of children.