Published Nov 09, 2026 | 7:31 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 09, 2026 | 7:31 AM
Depressive symptoms could affect motivation, cognitive functioning and an individual's perceived ability to meet workplace demands.
Synopsis: A study of 27,092 Indians aged 45-60 found depression associated with lower employment probability, even at moderate symptom levels. Researchers observed a narrower gender employment gap among people with depression, particularly in poorer households, raising questions about financial pressures, limited work choices and the need for gender-sensitive mental healthcare.
Depression is associated with a significantly lower likelihood of employment among Indians aged 45 to 60, with the relationship evident even among people experiencing moderate depressive symptoms, according to a study published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry.
The study, titled Mental health and workforce participation in India: A gendered analysis, examined data from 27,092 respondents who had previously worked and reported their current employment status.
It found that depression was associated with a 45-percentage-point lower predicted probability of employment among people classified as depressed using a Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form (CIDI-SF) score of five or above.
The researchers also found that the gender gap in employment was narrower among people with depression than among those without it. This pattern was particularly evident among economically disadvantaged groups, suggesting that financial pressures, household responsibilities and limited employment choices may influence women’s participation in the workforce.
The study was conducted by Forum M Shah, Zakir Husain, Mousumi Dutta and Soumitra S Datta using Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), carried out between 2017 and 2019 by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS).
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The researchers assessed depressive symptoms using the CIDI-SF, which assigns scores ranging from zero to 10. They examined both continuous scores and different thresholds to classify respondents as depressed.
Overall, 6.2 percent of respondents had a depression score of five or above. The proportion was higher among women, at 7.82 percent, compared with 5.09 percent among men.
The analysis found that the likelihood of employment declined as depressive symptoms increased. Respondents with a score of one had an average predicted probability of working of approximately 80 percent. This fell to 27 percent among those with a score of eight.
When the researchers used different thresholds to classify depression, the association remained statistically significant. Depression was associated with a 45-percentage-point lower predicted probability of employment at thresholds of three and five, and a 43-percentage-point reduction at a threshold of eight.
The authors said depressive symptoms could affect motivation, cognitive functioning and an individual’s perceived ability to meet workplace demands.
“Depression is associated with motivation, cognitive functioning, and self-efficacy, often related with poorer socio-occupational functioning of the affected individual resulting in reducing labour force participation. Through its impact on labour force participation, educational attainment, and work experience, the projected global economic burden of depression from 2025 to 2050 is estimated at US$12 trillion,” they said.
They also emphasised that the relationship with employment was evident even among people who might not meet more stringent clinical thresholds for depression.
“Our overall finding that depression is associated with lower labour force participation is broadly consistent with evidence from high-income countries. However, the association between depression and employment may vary across socio-cultural and economic contexts,” the authors noted.
The study found that depression was more prevalent among rural respondents, people with lower educational attainment and those who were not working. Respondents with two or more chronic health conditions were also more likely to report depressive symptoms.
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Women had a 15 to 16 percentage-point lower predicted probability of employment than men across different depression thresholds, reflecting persistent gender disparities in India’s labour market.
However, when the researchers compared men and women separately among respondents with and without depression, they found that the gender gap was considerably narrower among those experiencing depression.
At a CIDI-SF threshold of five, the estimated gender employment gap was approximately 69.5 percentage points among respondents without depression, compared with 34.2 percentage points among those classified as depressed.
This narrowing was concentrated among respondents in the lower 80 percent of the income distribution. Among the poorest 40 percent and the next 40 percent, the gender employment gap was substantially narrower among people with depression than among those without it. The difference was small and statistically insignificant among the wealthiest 20 percent.
The authors cautioned against interpreting this finding as evidence that women with depression are more resilient or empowered to work.
“One possible interpretation of the narrower gender gap among lower-income respondents is that employment may be more closely associated with economic circumstances and household needs where economic resources are limited. This interpretation is consistent with constrained agency theory, but the present analysis cannot establish that economic necessity or constrained choice explains the observed pattern,” they said.
The researchers said other factors could also explain the findings, including differences in occupation, informal employment, household responsibilities and access to alternative sources of income.
“Other factors, including differences in occupation, informal employment, household responsibilities, employment conditions, or access to alternative sources of income, may also contribute. The coexistence of employment and depression among women should therefore not necessarily be interpreted as evidence of resilience or empowerment,” the authors added.
The findings also varied by education. Among respondents who had not completed high school, the gender gap was narrower among those with depression. However, the pattern was reversed among respondents who had completed high school. The researchers said this showed that the relationship was not uniform across socioeconomic groups.
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The researchers highlighted the implications of their findings for India, where more than 80 percent of employment is informal and access to social protection remains limited.
They said depressive symptoms may affect occupational functioning through absenteeism, presenteeism or withdrawal from work. Primary healthcare consultations for conditions unrelated to mental health could offer opportunities to identify symptoms that might otherwise go unrecognised.
“Primary-care encounters for nonpsychiatric conditions may provide opportunities to identify depressive symptoms that might otherwise remain unrecognized. Rather than viewing employment solely as an economic outcome, clinicians may consider occupational functioning as one dimension of functional impairment when assessing depressive symptoms,” the authors said.
They also pointed to the potential role of return-to-work support, vocational rehabilitation, workplace accommodations and coordinated mental health and employment interventions.
“The findings may also have relevance for interventions addressing both mental health and occupational functioning, including return-to-work support, vocational rehabilitation, workplace accommodations, and coordinated mental-health and employment support. These considerations may be particularly relevant for working-age women, whose employment is shaped by multiple social and household circumstances,” they noted.
For women, the researchers recommended that assessments of depressive symptoms consider employment-related difficulties, household and financial pressures, caregiving responsibilities and available social support.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
