Socioeconomic status scales

By Malika Hasija (67)

Harmanpreet kaur (49)

Socio economic status has been 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.

Definition

It is determined on the basis of education, occupation and income level.

Based on these variables, socioeconomic status has been measured by following methods

Kuppuswami’s Method Udai Pareek’s Method Prasad’s Method Rahudkar scales Jalota scale Kulshrestha scale Shrivastava scale Bharadwaj scale

Kuppuswami’s method takes into consideration the education, occupation and monthly income of respondent to classify or determine socioeconomic status.

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).

Kuppuswami’s Method(for urban area)

Profession or honors 7 Graduate or postgraduate 6 Intermediate or post high school diploma 5 High school certificate 4 Middle school certificate 3 Primary school certificate 2 Illiterate 1

A.Educational component

Professional10

Semi professional 6 Clerical, shop-owner, farmer 5 Skilled worker 4 Semi-skilled worker 3 Unskilled worker 2 Unemployed 1

B.Occupational component

Above Rs. 38,600 12 Rs.19,291-38,599 10 Rs.14,463-19,290 6 Rs.9,634-14,462 4 Rs.5,773-9,633 3 Rs.1,933-5,772 2 Rs.<1,9321

C.Family income per month(in Rs.)modified in 2015

Total SCORE = A+B+C SOCIAL CLASS26-29 1(upper class)16-25 2(upper middle)11-15 3(lower middle)5-10 4(upper lower)Below 5 5(lower)

calculation

There is an overemphasis on income, rather than educational and occupational factors.

It is used for urban families only.

Limitations

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.

Udai Pareek’s method(rural)

Income may be concealed and it may not be easy to determine. The scale is easy to use.

To determine the level of poverty, these criteria can be adopted to classify the family as below poverty line (BPL) or above poverty line (APL).

Advantages

A) Caste Scheduled caste 1 Lower caste 2

Artisan caste 3 Agriculture caste 4Prestige caste 5Dominant caste 6

Components and their score

B) Occupation None 0 Laborer 1Caste occupation2Business 3Independent profession 4Cultivation 5Service 6

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

D)LandNo land 0Less than 1 acre 11-5 acre 25-10 acre 310-15 acre 415-20 acre 520 and above 6

E)Social participationNone 0Member of one organization 1Member of more than one organization

2Office holder in such organization

3Wider public leader 4

F)Family membersSingle 1Joint 2Extended 3Size up to 5 2Any other distribution feature 2

G)House No house 1Kutcha house 2Mixed house 3Pucca house 4Mansion 5

H)Farm powerNo draught(Buffalos/cows) 11-2 draught animals 23-4 draught animals 35-6 draught animals or tractor 6

I)Material possessionBullock cart 0Cycle 1Radio 2Chairs 3Mobile phone 4Television 5Refrigerators 6

SCORE CLASSMore than 43 133-42 224-32 313-23 4Less than 13 5

SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS

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

difficult to access.

Disadvantages

Socioeconomic status of family can also be known by criteria proposed by BG Prasad which includes 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

Parsad’s scale

SES Class Per capita monthly income

1 Rs.5,571 and above2 Rs.2,786-5,570

3 Rs.1,671-2,7854 Rs.836-1,6705 < Rs. 836

SES Class Lower limit (Rs.) upper limit(Rs.)1 5,798 infinity2 2,899 57973 1,739 2,8984 8,70 1,7385 0 869

Proposed guidelines for 2015

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.

Limitations

Variables Categories Score1.Source of drinking tap(own) 3Watertap shared 2

hand pump+well 1others 0

2.Type of house pucca 4semi-pucca 2katcha 0

Standard of living index (SLI)

3.Source of lighting electricity 2kerosene 1others 0

4.Fuel for cooking LPG 2kerosene 1others 0

5.Toilet facility own flush toilet 4own pit toilet 2shared toilet 2no toilet 0

6.ownership of items: fan 2radio2sewing machine 2television 2telephone 3bicycle 2motor cycle/scooter 3car 4tractor 4

On the basis of total score households are divided into three categories as:

Low-if total score is less than or equal to 9. Medium-if total score is greater than 9 but

less than or equal to 19. High-if the score is greater than 19

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 urban Rs.47/day Rural Rs.32/day

Poverty line

THANK YOU…!!