How Years of Low Income Can Affect Your Memory in Later Life

According to research by Columbia University, a study has found that earning low wages could affect your memory later in life. The study found that people in the US who earned low wages over a number of years were more likely to experience faster memory decline.

Researchers looked at data from more than 2,800 people who were born between 1936 and 1941, then they looked at what these people earned between 1992 and 2004. Using this information, they put the people into three groups based on their earnings during this period of time: those who had always earned low wages, those who had sometimes earned low wages, and those who had never earned low wages.

Low wages in the study were defined as an hourly rate that was lower than two-thirds of the US’ median wage for that year. Therefore, if the median wage was $10 per hour, their earnings would be less than $6.67 per hour.

The results were quite startling. It was found that between the years 2004 and 2016 when these people would have been 63 and older, those in the low-wage group experienced faster aging of the mind. It was also found that, over a period of 10 years, the minds of long-term low earners aged about a year faster than those who never earned low wages.

The minimum hourly wage in the US has been $7.25 since 2009, although some states offer a higher rate. For example, in Florida, the minimum wage is $10 per hour, and in California it is $14. While in the capital, Washington DC, the minimum hourly rate is $16.10.

The research, which was based on wages and not the type of work that people were doing, was shared in a presentation at an international meeting of the Alzheimer’s Association.