Early-Life Circumstances and Racial Disparities in Cognition for Older Americans: The Importance of Educational Quality and Experiences

Zhuoer Lin (), Justin Ye (), Heather Allore, Thomas M. Gill () and Xi Chen
Additional contact information
Zhuoer Lin: University of Illinois at Chicago
Justin Ye: Yale University
Heather Allore: Yale University
Thomas M. Gill: Yale University

No 17040, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Given the critical role of neurocognitive development in early life, this study assesses how racial differences in early-life circumstances are collectively and individually associated with racial disparities in late-life cognition. Leveraging uniquely rich information on life history from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study for non-Hispanic White (White) and non-Hispanic Black (Black) Americans 50 years or older, we employ the Blinder-Oaxaca method to decompose racial gaps in cognitive outcomes into early-life educational experiences, cohort, regional, financial, health, trauma, family relationship, demographic and genetic factors. Overall, differences in early-life circumstances are associated with 61.5% and 82.3% of the racial disparities in cognitive score and impairment, respectively. Early-life educational experience is associated with 35.2% of the disparities in cognitive score and 48.6% in cognitive impairment. Notably, school racial segregation (all segregated schooling before college) is associated with 28.8%-39.7% of the racial disparities in cognition. Policies that improve educational equity have the potential to reduce racial disparities in cognition into older ages. Clinicians may leverage early-life circumstances to promote the screening, prevention, and interventions of cognitive impairment more efficiently, thereby promoting health equity.

Keywords: early life circumstances; life course; school segregation; quality of education; racial disparity; cognition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H75 I14 I20 J13 J14 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 94 pages
Date: 2024-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-dem, nep-hea, nep-neu and nep-ure
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Published - published online as 'Early-Life Circumstances and Racial Disparities in Cognition Among Older Adults in the US' in: JAMA Internal Medicine , 28 May 2024

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Working Paper: Early-Life Circumstances and Racial Disparities in Cognition for Older Americans: The Importance of Educational Quality and Experiences (2024)
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