Reaping the Rewards Later: How Education Improves Old-Age Cognition in South Africa

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that additional education enhances cognitive abilities in older adults in South Africa, with stronger effects observed among women, mediated by social, health, and stress-related factors.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence linking education to improved late-life cognition and explores mechanisms behind this relationship in an aging South African population.

Findings

Extra year of schooling improves memory and cognition.

Effects are stronger among women.

Supportive social environment, health habits, and stress reduction mediate benefits.

Abstract

Cognition, a component of human capital, is fundamental for decision-making, and understanding the causes of human capital depreciation in old age is especially important in aging societies. Using various proxy measures of cognitive performance from a longitudinal survey in South Africa, we study how education affects cognition in late adulthood. We show that an extra year of schooling improves memory performance and general cognition. We find evidence of heterogeneous effects by gender: the effects are stronger among women. We explore potential mechanisms, and we show that a more supportive social environment, improved health habits, and reduced stress levels likely play a critical role in mediating the beneficial effects of educational attainment on cognition among the elderly.