An intergenerational policy is a

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

that incorporates an

intergenerational Intergenerationality is interaction between members of different generations.Klimczuk, Andrzej, ''Intergenerationality, Intergenerational Justice, Intergenerational Policies'', n:S. Thompson (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice'', ...

approach to addressing an issue or has an impact across the

generation A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and gr ...

s. Approaching policy from an intergenerational perspective is based on an understanding of the

interdependence Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its struc ...

and reciprocity that characterizes the relationship between the generations. An intergenerational approach to public policy recognizes that generations share basic needs including adequate income, access to quality health care and social services, educational and employment opportunities, and a safe place to live. Furthermore, policies that are supportive of any age group must build on the common concerns of all generations. Intergenerational policy is also understood as current efforts on

intergenerational justice Intergenerational equity in economic, psychological, and sociological contexts, is the idea of Social justice, fairness or justice between generations. The concept can be applied to fairness in dynamics between children, youth, adults, and Old a ...

, both by

governmental A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

and

non-governmental A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

institutions that distribute resources between the generations. There are two types of intergenerational policies: descriptive and programmatic. Descriptive intergenerational policy includes all efforts to institutionalize individual and collective relations between the generations in the private and public spheres. On the other hand, programmatic intergenerational policy refers to establishing societal conditions that allow the creation of private and public intergenerational relations in the present and future in a way that guarantees the development of a responsible and community-oriented

personality Personality is the characteristic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that are formed from biological and environmental factors, and which change over time. While there is no generally agreed-upon definition of personality, mos ...

on the one hand and of societal progress on the other. Literature includes at least five models intergenerational policies.Klimczuk, Andrzej,
Analysis of Intergenerational Policy Models
', "Ad Alta: Journal of Interdisciplinary Research" 1/2013, pp. 66-69. These are: (1) intergenerational

social integration Social integration is the process during which newcomers or minorities are incorporated into the social structure of the host society. Social integration, together with economic integration and identity integration, are three main dimensions of ...

; (2) linking strategies of

social policy Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...

towards

old age Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

and

older adults Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

( ageing policy); (3) dimensions of an intergenerational policy covering

environmental policy Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem mana ...

, architectural policy, (inter)cultural policy,

education policy Education policy consists of the principles and policy decisions that influence the field of education, as well as the collection of laws and rules that govern the operation of education systems. Education governance may be shared between the local ...

economic policy The economy of governments covers the systems for setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates as well as the labour market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the e ...

, labour market policy and

healthcare policy Health policy can be defined as the "decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific healthcare goals within a society".World Health Organization''Health Policy'' accessed 22 March 2011(Web archive)/ref> According to the ...

; (4) United Nations’ “ Society For All Ages“ concept; and (5) the European Union's concept of the “ silver economy”.

References

Public policy {{gov-stub