This document provides an overview of socioeconomic status (SES) and methods used to determine it. It defines SES and discusses its importance in health research. Major factors that affect SES include education, occupation, and income. Several scales are used to measure SES, including the Modified Kuppuswamy Scale, Modified BG Prasad Classification, and the Standard of Living Index. Appropriate scales depend on whether the setting is urban or rural. The document also provides sample questions to assess SES and limitations of different scales.

1. Determination of Socio Economic
Status & its implication
By
Dr Madhab Nayak
3rd yr. PG Student
Dept.of Community Medicine
MKCG Medical College
Email:-drmadhab65@gmail.com

2. Outlines of Topics
1.Definition of SES.
2.Need of SES.
3.Major Factors affecting SES.
4.Various Methods Used to determine it.
a.Modified Kuppuswamys scale
b.Modified BG prasads classification
c.Pareek & kulashesthas classification
d.Standard of Living index etc.
5.Where to use which type.
6.Questions Asked on SES.

3.  It is defined as the position that an individual
or family occupies with reference to the
prevailing average standards of cultural and
material possessions, income, and
participation in group activity of the
community.
It is an important determinant of health,
morbidity and mortality of the family.
WHAT IS SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS ?

4. WHY We Need to determine SES of Family?
1. To know the social class of family.
2. Health status can be determined.
3. Help you in Family study .
4. Uses in various Research study.
5.To suggest corrective measures which are socially
acceptable and economically feasible for the family.

5. EXAMPLE:-

6. MAJOR FACTORS affecting SES
A. EDUCATION STATUS:
a. IL (illiterate). A persons above 7 years who can neither
read nor write with understanding in any one language,
should be classified as IL (illiterate).
b. LI-NF (literate non-formal) for those above 7 years who
can read and write with understanding in any one
language but do not have formal schooling.

7. c. Literate:- > 7 years of age and ability to
read, write and understand at least one
language.
d. PS (pre-school) for children under 5 years
of age.
For literate with formal schooling write the
highest education status attained, that is,
the examination

8. B.OCCUPATION
i) Professional:
The highest social status for profession like
medical ( Doctor), engineering, or legal.
ii) Semi- professional:
Next social status is for employment as college
teachers or administrative responsibilities like head
master, officers in Government .Next comes primary
and high school teachers .

9. iii) Clerical, Shop-owner , Farmer :
Traders who maintain petty shops and are
engaged in small trade and business activities.
iv) Skilled workers:
Occupation like tailor, carpenters, mashoner,
washer man, potter, barber, beedi workers etc.
can be included.
v) Unskilled workers:
Those are casual workers and are engaged by
others by wages. Eg. Labourers.

10. c. INCOME
 Low income families are just able to meet their
immediate needs and are not able to accumulate
wealth, that could be passed on to future
generations
 while affluent families with higher and expandable
income can keep on good health & wealth.
Unemployed adult: > 18 years adult neither involved in
any job nor a student .

11. How SES is MEASURED ?
 The position the family occupies with reference to
the prevailing average standards of material
possessions, income, and participation in group
activity of the community is accessed.
 In SES scale ,there are many component like
education component occupation component ,income
component etc.
 Each component has different level and we will
give number

12. Socioeconomic status has been measured
by following methods/scales:-
 Kuppuswami’s scale
 BG Prasad scale
 Udai Pareek’s Method
 Rahudkar scales
 Jalota scale
 Kulshrestha scale
 Shrivastava scale
 Bharadwaj scale
Methods Used to Determine SES

13.  This scale was proposed by Kuppuswamy in India in 1976
It is the most widely used scale
He prepared a scale based on three variables which contributes
to the socio-economic staus .These are-
 Education of Head of Family
 Occupation of Head of Family
 Income of Family per month
 Each component is given a weighted score and then
the total score is summed up and the
individual/family can be classified.
 The level of income is updated on the basis
of consumer price index (CPI).

14.  Profession or honors
 Graduate or postgraduate
7
6
 Intermediate or post high school diploma5
 High school certificate
 Middle school certificate
 Primary school certificate
 Illiterate
4
3
2
1

15.  Professional 10
 Semi professional 6
 Clerical, shop-owner, farmer 5
 Skilled worker 4
 Semi-skilled worker 3
 Unskilled worker 2
 Unemployed 1

16. Family
Income in
1976
Family
Income in
1998
Family Income in
2017
Score
>=2000 >=13500 >=41985 12
1000 - 1999 6750 - 13499 20992 - 41984 10
750 - 999 5050 - 6749 15706 - 20991 6
500 - 749 3375 - 5049 10496 - 15705 4
300 - 499 2025 - 3374 6298 - 10495 3
101 - 299 676 - 2024 2102 - 6297 2
<= 100 <= 675 <=2101 1
C. Family Income per month
It implies that Rs.2000/- of 1976 are equal to
Rs.13500/- of 1998 and Rs.41985/- of 2017
January.
This is due to the rise in inflation since 1976.
Modified Income Values for January 2017:

17. MODIFICATION OF KUPPUSWAMY’S CLASSIFICATION:
The Income variable in the classification is subjected to change with
the changes in the inflation.
So there is need for modification of the income variable so that it will
be used by the public health as per time.

18. Check this webpage first for the current CPI(IW):
www.labourbureaunew.gov.in
Then, enter the CPI(IW) value in the green cell in the tool below.
CPI (IW) means Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers. It will be
some number between 200 to 400 (this is only an indicative range, not
fixed)
Do note that the latest available value of CPI(IW) will usually be for 2 or 3
months prior to the current month.
How to Calculate Modified Income Values online?
Go to Wbsite
http://scaleupdate.weebly.com/

19. Latest Modified income for Non.17

20. This is a realtime update for the Kuppuswamy’s
Socioeconomic Status Scale.
The revised scale is as given by Sharma (2017).
For further details of the scale and revision, see the
following article:
Sharma R. Revised Kuppuswamy’s Socioeconomic
Status Scale: Explained and Updated. Indian Pediatr.
2017;54:867-70. Available
at: www.indianpediatrics.net/oct2017/867.pdf

21.  Total SCORE = A+B+C
26-29
16-25
11-15
5-10
Below 5
SOCIAL CLASS
1(upper class)
2(upper middle)
3(lower middle)
4(upper lower)
5(lower)

22. 1. Scale should be updated from time to time to ensure
its constant use. Not constant always.
2. It takes the Occupation and Education of the Head
of the Family into account. But in Indian societies
there will be joint families which will be headed by
grandparents who will be illiterate and unemployed.
3. It does not take the family size into consideration.
Small family with same income as any other large
family will enjoy upward social mobility.
4. Not useful for Rural Area.
Limitations of the Modified Kuppuswamy
Scale:

23.   This method takes into consideration of
caste,
occupation,
 education,
 land holding,
social participation,
family size,
housing,
farm power & material possession.
 Each of these component is given weighted
score and by summing up all the components
the SES can be determined and categorized into
several classes.

24. A) Caste
Scheduled caste
Lower caste
Artisan caste
Agriculture caste
Prestige caste
Dominant caste
1
2
3
4
5
6

25. B) Occupation
None
Laborer
Caste occupation
Business
Independent profession
Cultivation
Service
0
1
2
3
4
5
6

26. C)Education
Illiterate
Can read only
Can read and write
Primary
Middle
High school
Graduate
Above
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

27. D)Land
No land
Less than 1 acre
1-5 acre
5-10 acre
10-15 acre
15-20 acre
20 and above
0
1
2
3
4
5
6

28. E)Social participation
None
Member of one organization
Member of more than one organization
Office holder in such organization
Wider public leader
0
1
2
3
4

29. F)Family members
Single 1
Joint 2
Extended 3
Size up to 5 2
Any other distribution feature 2
G)House
No house
Kutcha house
Mixed house
Pucca house
Mansion
1
2
3
4
5

30. H)Farm power
No draught(Buffalos/cows)
1-2 draught animals
3-4 draught animals
5-6 draught animals or tractor
1
2
3
6

31. I)Material possession
Bullock cart
Cycle
Radio
Chairs
Mobile phone
Television
Refrigerators
0
1
2
3
4
5
6

32. SCORE CLASS
More than 43 1
33-42 2
24-32 3
13-23 4
Less than 13 5

33.  Its use is only limited to rural population.
 It contains too many components that are
difficult to access.

35.  Bollam Gnana Prasad Rao (BG Prasad) scale was
first introduced in 1961 and was revised by the
author himself in 1968 and 1970.
In this scale per capita monthly income of an
individual. It is computed as:
 Per capita monthly income=total monthly
income of the family/total members of family
USED FOR RURAL AREA

36.  SES Class Lower limit (Rs.) upper limit(Rs.)
1 5,798 infinity
2 2,899 5797
3 1,739 2,898
4 8,70 1,738
5 0 869

37. http://prasadscaleupdate.wee
bly.com/real.html

38.  One of the main limitation of using per capita
is that it does not actually measure
development.
 As per capita income is a mean value. It does
not reflect actual income distribution.

39. Variables Categories
1.Source of drinking tap(own)
Score
3
2
1
0
4
2
0
Water tap shared
hand pump+well
others
pucca
semi-pucca
katcha
2.Type of house

40. 3.Source of lighting electricity 2
kerosene 1
others 0
4.Fuel for cooking LPG 2
kerosene 1
others 0
5.Toilet facility own flush toilet 4
own pit toilet 2
shared toilet 1
no toilet 0

41. 6.ownership of items: fan 2
radio 2
sewing machine 2
television 2
telephone 3
bicycle 2
motor cycle/scooter 3
car 4
tractor 4

42.  On the basis of total score households are
divided into three categories as:
 Low-if total score is <= 9.
 Medium-if total score is > 9 to <= 19.
 High-if the score is >19

43.  It is an economic benchmark and poverty
threshold used by the government of India to
indicate economic disadvantage and to
identify individuals and households in need of
government assistance and aid.
According to the budget of 2011-12:
 Rural –Rs.27 per day
 Urban –Rs.33 per day
 And as per 2014 budget
 Rural Rs.32/day
urban Rs.47/day

44. Urban Area Rural Area Can be used in both
settings
 Modified
Kuppuswamy’s
scale
 Modified B G
Prasad’ s
classification
 Pareekh and
Kulashreshta’s
classification
 Standard of living
index
– (parasuraman et
al)
 BPL/APL
Where to use which type
Scale?
You Must Remember...

45. Q.What is an Urban Area?
According to the Census of India 2001, an urban area is the
one which fulfils the following criteria:
a)All statutory places with a municipality, corporation,
cantonment board or notified town area
committee, etc. OR
b)A place satisfying the following three criteria
simultaneously:
i.A minimum population of 5,000;
ii.At least 75 per cent of male working population
engaged in non-agricultural pursuits;
iii.and
A density of population of at least 400 per sq. km. (1,000
per sq. mile)

46. Q. What is a rural area?
According to the Census of India
2001, all those areas which do not
fulfil the criteria for urban area are
grouped as rural areas.

47. MCQs
Modified Kuppuswamy scale include all criteria for
socioeconomic status except: [AIPGME ]
(a) Income of family per month
(b) Education of head of family
(c) Occupation of head
(d) Income of Family Head
Ans.D

48. 2. According to Kuppuswamy’s scale, total score for upper
middle class is
(a) 11-15
(b) 16-25
(c) 26-29
(d) 29-31
Ans.B

49. The Socio-Economic Scale developed for rural setup is
(a)Kuppuswamy
(b) Pareek
(c) Prasad
(d) None of the above
Ans. B
Short note
Modified Kuppuswamy scale

50. MY REFERENCES
1. Suryakantha AH. Community Medicine with Recent
Advances, 3rd edition.
2. Park. K. Park’s Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine,
24rth ed.
3. Sociology: A Global Perspective by Joan Ferrante 7E.
4. RAJVIR BHALWAR Public health textbook WHO – India.
5. Kumar N, Shekhar C, Kumar P, Kundu AS. Kuppuswamy’s
socioeconomic status scale .

52. FOR Any further Doubts
regarding topic
You can mail me :- drmadhab65@gmail.com
Whats up Me:-7008799441
Visit My Slide share Account:-
My Youtube Channel:-

53. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why does inflation have to be figured in, while calculating the Prasad classification?
Check the original Prasad classification. It would be difficult to reconcile that in the current time, a per capita
monthly income of > Rs.100 should represent the HIGHEST income class. If you choose to use the Prasad
classification, it makes sense to keep the income classes updated by taking inflation into consideration. You
can read more about inflation on the Wikipedia page about it. It defines inflation as a persistent increase in
the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.
What is the validity of the revision of Prasad’s social classification?
Validity of the real-time revised scale = Validity of the original scale + Some
The revision has not modified the classification (or the scoring) in any way. It just takes into consideration the
concept of inflation for the income categories. Whatever is the validity of the Prasad’s social classification as a
measure of socioeconomic status, use of the real-time update for the revision will increase the validity by
some extent for certain.
Still, I mean I would trust the revision more, if the validity was established by some reputed name like WHO
etc.
The only ‘update’ in the revision is in the income subscale. This update is linked to the Consumer Price Index
(CPI) figure. And these figures are updated and released by the Government of India monthly. So in a way, that
is quite a robust source for validity!
Why the need for a web-based resource for updating the scale?
As the basic indicator for inflation is released monthly by the Govt. of India, the scale too changes monthly. It
can only be kept relevant through a web-based calculator.

54. There have been print article updates of the Prasad’s social classification. Why can’t
I just use any one of them? Why the need for an additional reference to a web
resource?
If you understood the logic behind the answer to the FAQ1 above, i.e. why the
original income categories cannot be used as it is in the current times, the same logic
extends to the print updates too. As they are fixed in one point in time, they slowly
lose their validity of income classification with time. The only way to take inflation
into account is to take the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) value into consideration,
which is possible by using a web-based calculator. You can check this articlefor
further explanation.
So, in a nutshell, what is the need for a ‘real-time update’?
- If you have selected the Prasad’s social classification as the tool of choice for
measurement of socioeconomic status in your research work,
- If you agree that there is a need for updating the income category cut-points, that
is, you get the logic for a revision,
- Then by extension of the same logic, there is need for a real-time update.

55. A new value of the CPI is released each month. The data collection in my
study is going to last more than one month. So, which value of the CPI to
use in my research?
The CPI value changes monthly as discussed. It will not be practically
feasible to use different values of the revised scale for different subjects,
for a cross-sectional research study in which the data collection lasts more
than a month. A recommendation can be to use the last available value of
the CPI before printing of the questionnaires, for calculation of the revised
scale for cross-sectional studies. For prospective follow-up studies where
an individual is likely to be followed up at least six months apart, two
different CPI values can be used for the baseline and the follow-up
measurements

56. Other scales...
Student’s scale:
Bhardwaj Scale
Non-Indian SES scales:
Hollingshead (Occupation based) Scale
Henderson Scale

57. Urban SES scales:
Modified Kuppuswami Scale
Kulshreshtha Scale
Srivastava Scale
Jalota Scale
Rural SES scales:
Udai Pareek Scale
Modified B. G. Prasad Scale
Radhukar Scale
Shirpurkar Scale