Post-retirement cognitive declines were almost three times more acute among white Americans compared with their black peers, and twice as large for men as for women.
That’s according to a study published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. It found immediately after retirement white adults tended to experience a significant worsening of cognitive function, whereas for black retirees the decline was minimal.
White men experienced the steepest post-retirement decline in conscious mental processes while black women showed the least, according to the study which tracked 2,226 participants over up to 10 years. The findings were adjusted for socio-demographic variables as well as indicators of physical and mental health.
The results suggest “exposure to lifelong structural inequalities may actually ease transition to retirement with respect to cognitive ageing”, said lead author Ross Andel of Arizona State University’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation. That’s because longstanding racial disparities in US education and hiring practices mean black workers have faced substantial barriers to entry into more engaging jobs, Andel said.
Another potential explanation cited in the study is that black Americans have access to “better established social support networks and cultural practices that favour community cohesiveness to a greater extent than is typical for white adults”.
Higher-income men, especially white men, also experience significant cognitive declines immediately before retirement, according to the researchers — a finding that suggests some people undergo a “mental retirement” or disengagement from work before they physically retire.
“White workers, and particularly white men, may be more likely to experience a greater loss of identity, engagement and life direction as they enter retirement,” the study found.
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