The impact of work on cognition and physical disability: Evidence from English women

• Working longer improves cognition and reduces physical disability for women aged 60–63. • Cognitive gains from work are especially large for single women. • Non-sedentary jobs are good for mobility but sedentary jobs have negative effects. • Policy-makers should consider encouraging types of work that are good for health. • Policy could encourage physical exercise and engagement with others in retirement. In this paper we show that remaining in work has significant positive causal effects on the average cognition and physical mobility of older women in England. We analyse a reform-induced increase in employment of 60–63-year-old women between 2010 and 2017 in England and show that working longer substantially boosts performance on two cognitive tests, particularly for single women. We also find large improvements in measures of physical disability: substantial increases in walking speed, and lower reports of mobility problems. However, for women in sedentary occupations, work reduces walking speed, due to lower levels of physical exercise.