WORK AGING AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING IN GERMANY AND THE UK: TYPE OF WORK MAKES A DIFFERENCE

摘要

As part of a collaborative cross-national study which explores the health effects of retirement, we present early findings from analyses of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). We examine the relationship between age, occupational factors, retirement, and cognitive function in the comparative context of Germany and England. Cognitive function is measured by immediate and delayed word recall, an established measure for memory performance.Results suggest that cognitive decline in later life is influenced not only by age but also by occupation type and working status, while country-specific results are related to institutional settings and to national labour market circumstances. The findings demonstrate that age alone is insufficient to explain the cognitive decline, whereas work-related and institutional factors play a substantial role.