The aim of the research presented here is to assess the impact of depressive disorders on the potential of the labour markets in the countries of the European Union, with particular reference to the disparities between the 'old' and 'new' EU countries. The initial hypothesis of persistent inequalities in the system under study was verified by analysing the process of convergence in the burden of depressive disorders among people aged 20-54 that occurred in the EU-27 group of countries between 1990 and 2019. The study used data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (IHME, 2020), which examined the number of years lived with disability (YLD) due to depression in the working age population. The analysis showed that the high burden of the consequences of depressive disorders is particularly true for the highly developed economies of the EU-14. The results of the convergence assessment did not confirm the real effect of catching up over time with economies in a more favourable situation, and the inequalities observed at the beginning of the analysis period deepened..

The aim of the research presented here is to assess the magnitude of the burden of health limitations resulting from air pollution on the world's economies. This burden was determined by the estimated number of premature years of life lost (YLLs) or health lost (YLDs) due to air pollution-related diseases in the working-age population. Attention was drawn to the problem of existing inequalities in the global burden of national economies with different income levels. The hypothesis of a persistently high level of inequality was verified on the basis of an analysis of the convergence process in a group of 204 countries over the period 1990-2019. The results obtained indicate a strong variation in the level of health constraints caused by air pollution. The analysis of the catch-up process of the least advantaged countries (highest level of health constraints due to air pollution) did not show a positive convergence effect in the study group.