A long-term study of more than 2,700 individuals born in March 1946 has found evidence that prolonged financial stress may contribute to lasting cognitive decline. Researchers from the United Kingdom tracked participants’ health and socioeconomic status over several decades, focusing on the relationship between poverty and brain function in later life.
The study, published recently in the journal Innovation in Aging, analyzed cognitive performance in people aged 50 and older, comparing those who spent their mid-20s through early 50s in the lowest 20 percent of income earners with those in more advantaged financial positions. Participants who reported experiencing difficulty paying bills at least twice during their late 30s or 40s also scored lower on memory and processing speed tests in middle age.
Importantly, the analysis accounted for early-life disadvantages, including childhood cognition and educational attainment, indicating that financial stress during adulthood was likely responsible for the observed brain changes. The researchers noted that while cognitive decline in financially stressed individuals appeared to proceed more slowly at older ages, this may reflect an earlier onset of damage rather than a protective effect.
Jacques Wels, a quantitative sociologist at University College London and co-author of the study, emphasized the strength of their longitudinal data, which offered insights across multiple decades rather than snapshots at a single time point. He acknowledged the complexity in distinguishing whether the brain effects were directly caused by financial stress—thought to induce harmful inflammation and divert mental resources—or by associated behaviors common among low-income individuals, such as smoking and alcohol use. However, the timing of the cognitive changes, which emerged after the subjects’ 50s, supports the view that poverty itself was a driving factor rather than preexisting brain issues leading to financial hardship.
“The thing we were able to do is establish a causal relationship between financial pressure and brain health,” Wels said, citing measures like reading speed and calculation ability, as well as brain imaging data. He suggested the findings have important policy implications, highlighting the potential for poverty reduction to mitigate later cognitive health problems, including dementia.
Outside experts urged caution in interpreting the results as solely linked to income. University of Michigan professor Arline Geronimus, who studies the cumulative impact of social inequality on health, noted that other factors tied to systemic inequities likely also contribute to cognitive outcomes. She pointed out the possibility that individuals facing the most severe stress-related health effects may not have survived into older age to be included in the study, potentially influencing the findings.
“We shouldn’t think it’s just a simple matter of money,” Geronimus said. “It does speak to the social inequities that harm brain health.”
The study underscores growing evidence that economic and social stressors can have profound biological consequences over the life course and supports calls for integrated strategies to address poverty as part of public health efforts.