The aim of the article is to examine whether and to what degree the unequal distribution of social capital in the population explains the relationship between socioeconomic position and health in Norway. Theoretical insight and empirical evidence seem to suggest that social capital mediates the effect of socioeconomic position on health outcomes. However, only a few studies have addressed this question and those that have done so have used few and simple indicators of social capital. This study is based on a nationwide cross-sectional survey (N = 3190) commissioned by Statistics Norway. The survey was designed to cover a comprehensive set of variables measuring different aspects of the theoretical construct of social capital. Two health outcomes, selfperceived health and longstanding illness, were analysed. The results showed that the mediating role of social capital between socioeconomic position and health was negligible for both health outcomes. After controlling for sociodemographic variables and socioeconomic position, only neighbourhood satisfaction and generalised trust showed a significant association with selfperceived health, whereas none of the social capital variables had any significant association with longstanding illness. Some theoretical and methodological implications of the results are discussed.

The aim of this study is to analyze whether and to what extent welfare generosity moderates the risk of income poverty and material deprivation among disadvantaged groups, that is, people with ill health, low education and lack of employment. The data are based on the 2009 European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (cross-sectional) surveys. The analyses comprise 27 and 28 European countries, including 292,874 and 302,343 individuals between 18 and 64 years of age. Multi-level analyses demonstrated that welfare generosity moderated the risk of both material deprivation and income poverty. With few exceptions, the risk decreased among disadvantaged groups in absolute terms. Among individuals who experienced the combinations of limiting long-standing illness and either low education or non-employment, the absolute inequalities in material deprivation decreased with increasing welfare generosity. Also, the absolute inequalities in income poverty among individuals who experienced the combination of limiting long-standing illness and low education were lower in more generous welfare contexts. Results indicated lower absolute levels of both material deprivation and income poverty among disadvantaged individuals in generous welfare states. However, for material deprivation the results were more substantial and consistent than for income poverty. Taken together, these findings support the view that generous welfare states reach the worst-off and are successful in buffering material deprivation and income poverty and, hence, in reducing social inequalities.