CHIAS project funded by Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) focuses on cognitive health in aging society and related policy implications in Europe.

Europe is a leader in population aging but living longer does not imply aging well for all. As a key source of inequality, the retirement-health nexus has gained importance for both research and health policy planning. Still, existing studies oversee the interplay of individual, family and contextual factors in shaping healthy aging. In this respect, maintaining cognitive functions is a recognized central aspect. Thus, providing a clear understanding of healthy cognitive aging is the goal of this interdisciplinary project. We focus conceptually on the link between labor market participation and healthy cognitive aging and investigate analytically inequalities across time and space, where gender and education are central individual dimensions.

Using quantitative methods on high-quality survey data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we aim to answer the following research questions:

  • Is there a link between labor market participation and cognitive aging?
  • Do cognitive aging inequalities and their association with labor market participation vary across European countries/regions?
  • Do cognitive aging inequalities and their association with labor market participation vary across life course and cohorts?
  • Which policies/initiatives exist in different countries/cities that (directly or indirectly) promote healthy cognitive aging?

Our research will advance the scientific understanding of inequalities in aging across countries, regions, time and sub-populations (defined for example by gender and education). Next to providing new substantive insights into the aging process of cognition, the project is timely and essential for flattening the potential financial burden of population aging on the public long-term care system and ensuring effective policies and interventions aiming to leave no one behind, implemented both at the national and sub-national level. 

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This project received funding from Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF)