Table 2. Descriptive statistics of the sample – basic model variables (N = 17,070).

Variable	Category	Number	Percent
Summary score	Poor	9,870	57.82
	Good	7,200	42.18
Orientation in time	Poor	3,351	19.63
	Good	13,719	80.37
Numeracy	Poor	4,961	29.06
	Good	12,109	70.94
Verbal fluency	Poor	5,179	30.34
	Good	11,891	69.66
Recall (1st)	Poor	5,287	30.97
	Good	11,783	69.03
Recall (2nd)	Poor	4,772	27.96
	Good	12,298	72.04
Gender	Male	7,830	45.87
	Female	9,240	54.13
Age	60–64	1,162	6.81
	65–69	3,665	21.47
	70–74	4,358	25.53
	75–79	3,942	23.09
	80–84	2,536	14.86
	85–89	1,035	6.06
	90+	372	2.18
Business cycle in year of birth (t)	Recession t	3,541	20.74
	Average t	7,169	42.00
	Boom t	6,360	37.26
Business cycle in year before birth (t−1)	Recession t−1	4,059	23.78
	Average t−1	7,159	41.94
	Boom t−1	5,852	34.28
Business cycle in year after birth (t+1)	Recession t+1	3,490	20.45
	Average t+1	6,853	40.15
	Boom t+1	6,727	39.41

Data source: SHARE waves 1, 2, and 4.