Gender-specific impacts of employment on mental and cognitive health in older adults.

BACKGROUND: As the workforce ages, understanding the impact of employment on older adults' mental and cognitive health is increasingly important. These effects have implications for productivity, economic burden, and well-being. This study examines the causal relationship between employment and mental/cognitive health, with a focus on gender differences.

METHODS: Using panel data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (1996-2016), we employ an instrumental variable (IV) two-stage least squares (2SLS) model, controlling for individual and time-fixed effects. An exogenous health shock (e.g. accident or injury outside of work) serves as the instrument. Employment outcomes (working for pay, hours worked per day, and weeks worked per year) are regressed on the instrument, and predicted values are used to explain CES-D (mental health) and fluid intelligence (cognitive health) scores.

RESULTS: Health shocks significantly reduce the probability of working, hours per day, and weeks per year. This decline in employment leads to lower fluid intelligence scores but has no effect on CES-D scores. This negative cognitive effect appears only among older women, not men.

IMPLICATIONS: Supporting workforce participation among older women may help protect cognitive health while enhancing financial stability.