Factors of health difference in Saint-Petersburg: social capital and economic inequality

The present article reveals the differences in health, conditioned by the socio-economic stratification and unequal distribution of social capital resources in society. The analysis is based on the mass survey results, conducted in St Petersburg, 2006. The results show that the socio-structur- al inequalities mostly linked to the income stratification, as well as in the 1990-s, are of great significance in forming the health of the population in St. Petersburg. The social capital substantially biases the social stratification of health through the material and psychological resources, procurable by entering the social nets and interaction with other people. The social capital resources, necessary for supporting health are unequally distributed in the socio-economic stratas, fixing conditioned by socio- structural factors in-equalities in health.