The aim of the research presented here is to assess the magnitude of the burden of health limitations due to air pollution on the world’s economies. This burden was determined by the estimated number of premature years of life lost (YLLs) or years of 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 between economies with different income levels. The hypothesis of persistently high levels of inequality was tested by analysing the convergence process in a group of 204 countries over the period 1990–2019. The results indicate a high degree of variation in the level of health problems caused by air pollution. The analysis of the catching-up process of the most disadvantaged countries (with the highest level of health impacts from air pollution) did not show a positive convergence effect in the study group.

A consequence of similar institutional conditions of domestic labor markets in Europe is the permanent occurrence of the “labor hoarding” phenomenon, which entails non-immediate adaptation of employment to production changes. The article verifies whether the phenomenon of labor hoarding occurs in the European Union countries and what is its level and the direction of changes between 1996 and 2016. The empirical study of employment adjustments to the production volume showed that in the examined period the phenomenon of labor hoarding occurred in all countries of the European Union (excluding Spain). Labor hoarding was accomplished through a slight adjustment of the number of employees to production changes. At the same time, it was noticed that the companies were more flexible with adjusting the number of hours worked. This was particularly evident during global crises and was the consequence of other vital changes in national economies.

Research has shown that mental disorders in working-age individuals are associated with a significant burden of disability, sickness absence, and presenteeism, resulting in lost productivity. This study aims to assess the impact of depressive disorders on the labour markets in the European Union countries, with a particular focus on the disparities between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ EU countries. The study analysed the process of convergence of the burden of depressive disorders among people aged 20–54 in the group of EU-27 countries in the years 1990–2019, using data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The initial hypothesis of persistent inequalities in the system studied was verified. The study measured years lived with disability (YLD) due to depressive disorders in the working-age population. The analysis revealed that depressive disorders have a significant impact on the highly developed economies of the EU-14 countries. The convergence assessment did not confirm the effect of catching up with more favourable economies over time, and the inequalities observed at the beginning of the analysis period worsened. This study’s results expand upon the existing literature on the consequences of depressive disorders by introducing the perspective of inequalities in the studied area. These inequalities were observed between EU-27 economies with varying levels of socio-economic development.

The aim of the present research is to assess the scale of the impact of air pollution on the level of burdening EU economies with the consequences of chronic diseases (non-communicable diseases—NCDs) in the context of limiting the potential productivity of human resources. This study attempts to identify inequalities in this area that occur in the territory of the European Union. The scale of the impact of environmental factors, and air pollution in particular, on the level of health limitations in the labor resources of EU countries was measured by the number of the years of healthy life lost (YLL and YLD) as a result of chronic diseases. The verification of the assumption of a persistently high level of dispersion was based on an analysis of the convergence process (β and σ) in the group of EU countries in 1990–2019. The results demonstrate that the level of health restrictions caused by air pollution is diverse in the group of EU-27 countries. The inequalities observed concern, in particular, the relationship between the old and the new EU, indicating a high burden of health consequences for the inhabitants of Central and Eastern Europe (EU-CEE).