A life-course approach to social policy analysis

The proposals outlined in this paper flow from the work of the PRI staff and of the many departments actively contributing to these projects. [...] The framework provides a way of linking the inputs and processes of policy to the outputs and ultimate outcomes of policy. [...] There is also a clear wish to examine the roles of people in relation to a range of different social institutions to supplement the present heavy emphasis on market relations and existing information on income and economic activities with information describing the use of other types of resources and participation in non-market activities, such as caregiving. [...] However, many challenges for policy arise when difficult transitions take place in several trajectories at about the same time in the lives of individuals, for example when a marriage breaks down, the loss of a job and the birth of a child happen in a relatively short period of time. [...] Social citizenship is a similar concept, and particularly useful in taking a broad picture of social development that places weight on the normative basis of social policy and the importance of the two-way flows of resources between individuals and the institutions and networks of society.