On the relationship between economic conditions around the time of birth and late life cognitive abilities: Evidence from Taiwan

•A linkage between early life conditions and late life cognitive abilities is verified.•Being born in a recession year increases the risk of difficulties with cognition.•The year prior to birth is also associated with the risk of difficulties with cognition.•Being born in a recession year decreases the likelihood of high educational attainment.

This study investigates the casual linkage between economic conditions around the time of birth and late life cognitive abilities. The zero-inflated negative binomial and multivariate logistic regression models were used to evaluate the direct and indirect effect of economic conditions around the time of birth on late life cognitive abilities, respectively. Both direct and indirect effects of economic conditions around the time of birth on late life cognitive abilities were identified. The relative risk ratio in adjusted mean scores of the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (a means to measure cognitive impairment) indicates that being born in an economic recession year (experiencing economic recession during the year prior to birth) increases the risk of difficulties with cognition by 17.40% (11.70%). Being born in an economic recession year decreases the likelihood of high educational attainment in later life by an odds ratio of 0.962.