Worth starting up during the depression (5)
I believe the answer is:
value
'worth' is the definition.
(I know that value is a type of worth)
'starting up during the depression' is the wordplay.
'starting' indicates taking the first letters.
'during' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'the depression' becomes 'vale' (vale is a kind of depression).
The initial letter of 'up' is 'u'.
'u' placed inside 'vale' is 'VALUE'.
(Other definitions for value that I've seen before include "Monetary worth" , "Esteem" , "Worth; prize" , "Appreciate" , "Worth or importance of something" .)