PROSPECTIVE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN THE STATE MINIMUM WAGE AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN OLDER AMERICANS

Abstract Limited research has explored how social policies influence cognitive health in older age. This study aimed to examine the associations between the state-level minimum wage and cognitive function in older US adults. We used data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2020) on non-self-employed workers who were age 50-75 and free of dementia at baseline, with cognitive function measured during the study period (N=7490). For cognitive function, we used data based on the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Score (TICS; 0-27, with higher values indicating better cognitive function). We explored the state-level minimum wage, adjusted to 2021 US dollars, lagged by 2, 6, and 10 years. We employed individual fixed-effects linear models and examined for differences in associations by wage, working hours, race/ethnicity, and sex. Among all workers, the state minimum wage was not associated with cognitive function. However, for low-wage workers and part-time workers, a $1 increase in the 6-year lagged state minimum wage was associated with a 0.40 (95% CI=0.17 to 0.64, p=.001) and 0.17 (95% CI=0.03 to 0.32, p=.01) point increase in the TICS, respectively, controlling for time-invariant individual factors and time-varying individual-level and state-level covariates. Among low-wage workers, stronger associations between the state minimum wage and increases in cognitive function were observed in non-Hispanic Whites (β= 0.43, p<.001) but not Black Americans (β=0.04, p=0.91) and Hispanic Americans (β=0.30, p=0.21). There were no differences by sex. Overall, our findings support that increasing the state minimum wage could benefit the cognitive health of older adults, particularly among low-wage workers.