Chapter 14: The Contribution of Home Background to Student Inequality in Secondary Schools in Norway

Since 2000, Norway has stood at the top of the world in terms of aggregated living conditions as measured by the Human Development Index of the United Nations (UNDP 2006). Being a welfare state, GDP per capita and living standards are high by international comparison. Wealth is relatively equally distributed in this country, through a ‘Robin hood’ style taxation system. There is no extreme poverty and only a very small number of people are living in relative poverty in Norway (Facts & Figures http://odin.dep.no). In addition, along with the other Scandinavian welfare states, Norway displays a very low level of inequality compared to other western societies.