Different researchers have observed great, in some cases growing inequalities according to level of education. This has been explained in terms of the growth of a knowledge society ( Bresnahan, Brynjolfsson & Hitt , 2002; De Rick, Vanhoren, Op den Kamp & Nicaise, 2006; Gesthuizen & Scheepers, 2010; Gini, 2000; Green, Ashton, Burchell, Davies & Felstead, 2000; Heidemann, 2001; Machin, 2001; Nixon, 2006; Schneeberger, 2006).

This paper used the data from the European Social Survey (ESS08) to test that explanation. Six criteria are taken into account: employment, health, satisfaction with personal life, attitudes with regard to migrants, trust in institutions, and repressiveness. For each of these variables great differences between elementary and high levels of education are observed in all countries in the ESS08 data bank. The levels of education are defined as follows: less educated or elementary education (ISCED 0-2), middle level education (ISCED 3-4), higher education (ISCED 5-6).

Aggregate comparative analysis and multilevel analysis are used to see how the development of the knowledge society, the welfare state and characteristics of the educational system are related to the inequalities or differences between the different levels of education. Three characteristics of the educational system are taken into account: the degree of differentiation or tracking at the secondary level, the degree of freedom of school choice of the parents, and the degree of inequality between the schools (as measured on the basis of the PISA results).

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