Figure 2 is a line chart showing the share of men and women ages 18 to 44 who reported serious cognitive difficulty. The figure shows the 6-month moving average from June 2008 through October 2023. The orange line represents the share of women in this age group reporting serious cognitive difficulty, while the blue line represents the share of men reporting the same. There is a consistent upward trend for younger men, predating the COVID-19 pandemic. Its trajectory more or less continued after the COVID-19 pandemic began. However, the share of younger women who reported serious cognitive difficulty was fairly flat prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and only began to climb sharply after COVID-19 emerged. The gender gap in cognitive difficulty among younger people has narrowed considerably during the pandemic. The most recent rate for men in this age range is 3.7 percent, while the rate for women is 3.6 percent. Immediately before the pandemic in February 2020, the 6-month moving average share of younger men reporting cognitive difficulty was 3.1 percent, while the rate for women was 2.3 percent. The source for the data in Figure 2 is the author's analysis of publicly available microdata (via IPUMS) for the Current Population Survey Basic Monthly Sample, June 2008–October 2023. Military and institutionalized populations are not included.