Gender Differences in the Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Episodic Memory among Older Adults

Though research has shown that socioeconomic status influences memory in later life, there is
a paucity of research on how gender may shape the relationship between socioeconomic status
and memory declines associated with advancing age. This study draws on data from the 2014
wave of the Health and Retirement Study (n = 8,614) and estimates a series of OLS regression
models to examine how memory is impacted by income and education, two commonly used
indicators of socioeconomic status. Moreover, this study examines how these direct effects are
moderated by gender. Results indicate that women display better memory at older ages than
men, while higher income and education are both associated with better memory. Additionally, we find evidence that gender moderates the relationship between education and memory such that men benefit more from education than women. There was no significant gender
difference in the effect of income on memory. We end with a discussion of study strengths and
limitations as well as directions for future research.