Introduction

Population ageing directs the attention of policy makers to older people. Policy makers increasingly have to ponder what today's older people need and how existing institutions can adapt in order to accommodate an ageing population. However, when doing so, policy makers cannot focus on older age alone. After all, experiences during one's youth and middle age can have a profound impact on one's situation in old age. To address population ageing effectively, policy makers would therefore need to account for long-term effects on old age. Long-term effects that unfold over a person's life are called ‘life-course effects’ (Grenier, 2012).

While considering lifecourse effects in policy-making sounds like a small step, it in fact has major implications. Traditional old-age policies treat older people as a separate and distinct population group, whereas policies embracing the lifecourse perspective see old age as a stage that (almost) everybody reaches at some point in time. Consequently, old-age policies explicitly address older people, while lifecourse policies take a much broader approach (Anxo et al, 2010). On the one hand, they strive to shape the situation in old age by influencing people at earlier ages. On the other hand, they strive to address the phenomenon of population ageing by reassessing the needs and potentials of all age groups. Thus, lifecourse policies address the entire population over longer periods of time.

This chapter explores how lifecourse effects can be incorporated into policies for old age. It explains what this shift in perspective entails and why it is advantageous, and it gives examples of policies that reflect this idea. To reach these goals, this chapter proceeds in five steps. First, it presents theoretical reflections on the character and specificities of lifecourse policies. Then it compares lifecourse policies with old-age policies. Subsequently, this chapter discusses stumbling blocks on the road towards introducing lifecourse policies. Then, it presents examples of lifecourse policies from Canada, where policy makers are currently implementing lifecourse approaches in a number of new programmes. Finally, this chapter discusses advantages and limitations of lifecourse policies.

Understanding lifecourse policies

Lifecourse policies follow individuals from the cradle to the grave, supporting and stimulating them whenever needed. By intervening, these policies strive not only to solve current problems, but also to prevent hardship at later ages.