Causal effect of mandatory elementary education textbooks on literacy and cognition of low socioeconomic status older adults.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has suggested that early-life education can help build cognitive reserve, providing resilience against late-life cognitive decline. The research on education and late-life cognitive health, however, has focused more on developed nations and higher levels of education. This research examines the effects of an elementary school policy on literacy, education, and late-life cognitive health. METHODS: We analyzed, through a shift-share instrumental variable approach, the causal effect on late-life cognitive health of an exogenous policy change that introduced free and mandatory textbooks in 1960 for elementary schools in Mexico. This change essentially made elementary school attendance universal. For our analysis, we used the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) and Census datasets linked to 1960 literacy rates for cohorts born between 1930 and 1965. The MHAS and Censuses include data on literacy and early-life education. The MHAS additionally includes data on late-life cognitive engagement and functioning. RESULTS: We found that the textbook program increased literacy, years of education, and late-life cognitive engagement. We found improvements in cognition for those with lower early-life socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: There is scarce literature analyzing the causal effect of literacy and early-life education policies in developing countries on late-life cognitive engagement and functioning. Our results, particularly for the most vulnerable populations, suggest that elementary educational policies in low- and middle-income countries can boost cognitive engagement and function in late life.