From childhood to millennials and beyond, it is essential we take a life-course approach to occupation and work when in pain. Written by experts in the field, Work and pain: A lifespan development approach provides an authoritative summary and analysis of the relationship between all forms of occupation and pain. Divided into three sections, ‘Foundations’, provides a critical account of the nature of work and of pain. The next section, ‘Investigations’, analyses the bi-directional relationships between children living with chronic pain and parents; between being a child in pain and schooling; what it is to be a millennial in pain; the implications of pain which is determined to be occupational in origin; and enabling a life lived well with pain as one ages. The final section, ‘Interventions’, critically reviews what individuals can change, what workplaces can do, and how governments can innovate to try to maximise workability for people living with pain in the context of current working practices. Work and pain: A lifespan development approach investigates and guides the reader on understanding how and why people seek to be occupied, and how we can maximise their social and personal involvement when living with ongoing pain, suggesting ways forward in research, practice, and policy.