The impact of education on dementia: Evidence from compulsory schooling reforms in England

Compulsory schooling laws introduced across Europe in the 20th century aimed to expand educational attainment and may have shaped key determinants of cognitive health. We exploit variations in compulsory schooling laws in England to assess whether increased education, mandated by these policies, impacts cognitive function, dementia risk, and related risk factors in older age. We focus on two major reforms: the 1947 reform, which raised the school-leaving age from 14 to 15, and the 1972 reform, which increased it to 16. Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and a novel dementia risk algorithm based on the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP), we find that while both reforms increased schooling, their effects on cognitive aging differ. We find suggestive evidence that the 1947 reform improved cognitive outcomes and reduced dementia and mild cognitive impairment risk specifically for women and individuals from low parental education backgrounds. In contrast, we find no statistically detectable reductions in dementia risk associated with exposure to the 1972 reform. Our findings suggest that the impact of compulsory schooling laws on cognitive aging and dementia is context dependent. Findings highlight the importance of institutional context and heterogeneity when assessing the long-run effects of education policies.