Life after work: Why social connections matter

As populations age across Europe, maintaining cognitive health has become an increasingly important public health challenge. While previous research has shown that both employment and social relationships are associated with better cognitive functioning, little has been known about how these factors interact or whether their effects differ by gender.

The study was conducted within the framework of the Cognitive Health in Ageing Society (CHIAS) project funded by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF). To analyze the relationship between employment status, social connectedness, and cognitive functioning among adults aged 50 and older, the researchers utilized data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The study compared people who were employed, retired, unemployed, or homemakers and assessed how different levels of social network strength related to two measures of cognitive functioning: episodic memory and verbal fluency.

"Our study aims to understand how being employed versus retired, unemployed, or a homemaker, is linked to cognitive functioning in people aged 50 and over in Europe, and, for the first time, to examine whether a strong social network changes that link differently for women and men," explains Thomas Arnhold, a researcher in the IIASA Population and Just Societies Program and lead author of the study.

"A strong social network appears to buffer the cognitive disadvantage of not working, but the pattern is clearly gendered. For women, having a diverse social network appears to compensate for the loss of engagement opportunities often provided by work. For men, close personal ties, often with a spouse or partner, may play a particularly important role. In addition, we found that non-employed men with no social ties had especially low episodic memory scores, highlighting the potential risks associated with social isolation," adds coauthor Daniela Weber, a senior research scholar at IIASA and an assistant professor of health economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

The authors note that the findings have important implications for decision makers developing policies to support healthy ageing across Europe and other countries facing demographic change.

"In ageing societies, helping older adults maintain good cognitive functioning is a major public health priority. Our results suggest that interventions should reflect the different ways men and women benefit from social connections. Programs that help older women build and maintain diverse social networks may be especially valuable, while for older men, preventing social isolation and supporting close relationships may matter more," says Valeria Bordone, Professor of Sociology at the University of Vienna and guest senior research scholar at IIASA.

The study is based on data from more than 145,000 observations collected across 27 European countries between 2011 and 2020, many of which face similar challenges related to population ageing and the growing importance of promoting cognitive health in later life.

The authors conclude that social networks can act as an important source of cognitive stimulation when employment is absent and that gender should be considered a key factor in understanding how social resources contribute to cognitive resilience in older age.

The study, Employment Status and Later Life Cognitive Functioning: A Gendered Perspective on the Moderating Role of the Social Network, is published in the journal Research on Aging.

Reference 
Arnhold, T., Weber, D., & Bordone, V. (2026). Employment status and later life cognitive functioning: A gendered perspective on the moderating role of the social network. Research on Aging DOI: 10.1177/01640275261456210