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Age and Cognitive Skills: Use It or Lose It

Author

Listed:
  • Eric A. Hanushek
  • Lavinia Kinne
  • Frauke Witthoeft
  • Ludger Woessmann
Abstract
Cross-sectional age-skill profiles suggest that workers' cognitive skills start declining by their thirties if not earlier. If accurate, such age-driven skill losses pose a major threat to the human capital of societies with rapidly aging populations. We estimate actual age-skill profiles from individual changes in skills at different ages. We use the unique German longitudinal component of the Programme of the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC-L) that retested a large representative sample of adults after 3.5 years. Two main results emerge. First, correcting for measurement error, average skills increase into the forties before decreasing slightly in literacy and more strongly in numeracy. Second, skills decline at older ages only for those with below-average skill usage. White-collar and higher-educated workers with above-average usage show increasing skills even beyond their forties. Women have larger skill losses at older age, particularly in numeracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric A. Hanushek & Lavinia Kinne & Frauke Witthoeft & Ludger Woessmann, 2024. "Age and Cognitive Skills: Use It or Lose It," Papers 2410.00790, arXiv.org.
  • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2410.00790
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    File URL: http://arxiv.org/pdf/2410.00790
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jaime Arellano-Bover, 2022. "The Effect of Labor Market Conditions at Entry on Workers' Long-Term Skills," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(5), pages 1028-1045, December.
    2. Hanushek, Eric A. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2015. "The Knowledge Capital of Nations: Education and the Economics of Growth," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262029170, April.
    3. Green, David A. & Riddell, W. Craig, 2013. "Ageing and literacy skills: Evidence from Canada, Norway and the United States," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 16-29.
    4. Claudia Reiter, 2022. "Changes in Literacy Skills as Cohorts Age," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 48(1), pages 217-246, March.
    5. Hanushek, Eric A. & Schwerdt, Guido & Wiederhold, Simon & Woessmann, Ludger, 2017. "Coping with change: International differences in the returns to skills," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 15-19.
    6. Eric A. Hanushek & Ludger Woessmann, 2008. "The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(3), pages 607-668, September.
    7. Barrett, Garry F. & Riddell, W. Craig, 2019. "Ageing and Skills: The Case of Literacy Skills," IZA Discussion Papers 12073, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonas Jessen & Lavinia Kinne & Michele Battisti, 2024. "Child Penalties in Labour Market Skills," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0052, Berlin School of Economics.

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