Lifecourse Science

Lifecourse research has uncovered many of the ingredients that help people live happier, healthier, more fulfilling lives. These include:

  • avoiding toxic exposures in utero,

  • providing warm parenting, attachment and language environments in first thousand days,

  • developing self-regulation and language skills in the pre-school and early primary school years,

  • providing mental health skills support in middle childhood and adolescence.

Aotearoa today has some of the worst rates of youth suicide, school attendance, child poverty and youth unemployment in the OECD. 

If these lifecourse ingredients can be supported at scale, over multiple years, evidence shows we can expect to see improvements in social, educational and wellbeing outcomes across a generation of children in Aotearoa.

“A lifecourse approach is consistent with Māori worldviews that recognise interconnectedness between past, present, and future generations including the intergenerational factors that influence the health and wellbeing of people today”
— Theodore et al (2019) "How a lifecourse approach can promote health and wellbeing outcomes for Māori", Journal of Indigenous Wellbeing

Lifecourse Science in Action

Lifecourse skills are well understood through research, but are seldom supported at scale to improve people’s lives. We want to change that. Aotearoa Lifecourse Fund supports organisations that deliver the right support at the right time in the lives of young people - as summarised in the grid below.

Source: Prof Richie Poulton & Jimmy McLauchlan, 2023

We are currently investing in three kaupapa that fit this lifecourse approach. In the next five years, we aim to light up more squares on the grid, so every child born today in Aotearoa gets the support they need to thrive. 

Aotearoa Lifecourse Fund combines three distinctive elements:

  • Finding programmes that align with lifecourse science

  • Funding those programmes to work with children and young people, and evidence the change in lifecourse

  • Scaling programmes to reach significantly more children and young people by securing long-term government funding

Our Approach

The Aotearoa Lifecourse Fund approach combines three distinctive elements:

  • Finding programmes that align with lifecourse science,

  • Funding those programmes to support with tamariki and rangatahi and gather evidence of their lifecourse impacts,

  • Scaling those programmes to reach significantly more tamariki and rangatahi by securing long-term government funding.

Lifecourse Science Links