Number of children and cognitive abilities in later life

Valeria Bordone and Daniela Weber

Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, 2012, vol. 10, issue 1, 95-126

Abstract: The investigation on cognition has identified structural characteristics of thesocial network as important components to contrast cognitive ageing. Using datafrom the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we examine theassociation between number of children and cognitive functioning in later life,considering the performance in three cognitive tests (fluency, immediate recalland delayed recall). The analyses focus on respondents aged 60+, not in thelabour market, accounting for their proximity and frequency of contact tochildren. We find a positive association between cognitive functioning and havingchildren: childless men and women name a lower number of items in one test, theso-called “fluency test”. However, parents of two children show higher abilitiesthan parents of a single child and heads of large families. Our findings alsoindicate that more contacts with children are associated with higher fluency.Interestingly, the relationship with the child(ren) is not significantly related tocognitive performance in the two tests of recall abilities, where educationalattainment and the presence of a spouse or partner show to be more relevant.Studying both men and women allows us to consider both biological mechanismsand social relationships linking parity and cognitive functioning in later life.

Date: 2012
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