Cognitive health of elder working women in India: evidence from LASI survey

Cognitive health gradually declines with ageing, although the pace of decline varies across individuals due to their physiological and socioeconomic attributes. Employment including technical and complex tasks may ensure cognitive reserves, although it also differs between men and women. The study aims to assess the role of employment in the cognitive health of elder women across three age groups—46–55 years, 56–65 years, and more than 65 years. The study is based on the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) wave 1 (2020) with a sample size of 62,379 of which 33,137 (53.12%) are women. The result shows a faster decline of cognition among women than men in all age groups. The cognition index among women aged 46–55 years, 56–65 years, and more than 65 years fell at a faster rate of 1.07, 1.40, and 1.67 respectively than men in respective age groups. The study further shows the decline in cognitive health occurs in both employed and unemployed women, but such decline is marginally higher among employed women than unemployed one in all age groups. Employed women aged 46–55 years, 56–65 years, and more than 65 years, experience a decline in cognitive index by the faster rate of 0.09, 0.02, and 0.16 than unemployed women from the respective age groups. It means, employment negatively affects women’s cognitive health. In contrast, the employment slows down the decline of cognition among men. Thus, employment affects the cognitive health of elder men and women differently. Higher participation of women in unskilled/manual jobs, low socioeconomic attributes, and gender-based discrimination are a few major reasons for the poor cognitive health of elder women.