In this final chapter we find ourselves returning to the issues raised in the introduction by Richard Wall and taken up by several of our contributors, especially by John Hajnal in chapter 2. If we are to compare family and household as work group and kin group among areas of traditional Europe, we shall have to lay down exactly what it is which is being compared. This means reopening the problem of the definition of the household, and the extent to which it is justifiable to suppose that it is best regarded, as we shall regard it, as a residential group. The resemblances, and the slight differences, between the view we shall take and that of earlier chapters should become evident as we proceed.

From residence we shall go on to the question of whether there were distinguishable areas of traditional Europe which can be contrasted with each other. An hypothesis will be put forward on this matter: that it is possible, and for our purposes useful, to distinguish four sets of tendencies in traditional Europe as to the composition of the family household in relation to work and to kinship, tendencies which can be tentatively labelled ‘west and north-west’, ‘middle’, ‘Mediterranean’, and ‘east’. After this we shall proceed to our subject proper and marshal such evidence as we have space to consider on working relationships within families and households alongside reproductive and kin relationships. We shall end by facing the question of historical development.