| Summary: | The article is devoted to a problem of social capital’s influence on SES inequalities in health. The European Social Survey data for 27 countries (ESS Round 6, 2012) and statistics for these countries (World Bank, Eurostat, etc.) were analyzed by means of hierarchical two-level modeling. In all states, whatever was the level of their general welfare, there were considerable inequalities in health between the lower and top layers of social structure. Social capital — interaction networks, social support and trust — promotes strengthening of health in any social strata. In many countries the buffer effect is shown — the social capital promotes smoothing of SES inequalities due to more noticeable improvement of health in the lower layers in relation to the top. Nevertheless such effect (statistically highly significant) is not very strong and depends on a context. It can be found with higher probability in the most advanced European countries — with strong economy, low income inequality and “social democratic” regime of welfare state. In less developed parts of Europe presented by Russia and other Post-Soviet states and in countries with “liberal” or “mediterranean” regime, compensatory influence of the social capital, as a rule, is not found.
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