SOCIO-ECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION ( INDIA )

SOCIO-ECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION ( INDIA )

The Socio-economic status (SES) is an important determinant of health and nutritional status as well as of mortality and morbidity. Socio-economic status also influences the accessibility, affordability, acceptability and actual utilization of various available health facilities. There have been several attempts to develop different scales to measure the socioeconomic status. The earliest attempts to find out the social class of an individual were from the standpoint of psychologists.

In Indian studies, the classification of British Registrar General based on occupation was tried earlier. Later on Prasad's classification of 1961based on per capita monthly income and later modified in 1968 and 1970 has been extensively used. Now a days Kuppuswami scale is widely used to measure the socio-economic status of an individual in urban community based on three variables namely education, occupation and income.
The modification of Kuppuswami scale meant to determine the socioeconomic status of family based on education and occupation of head of the family and per capita income per month has also been widely used. Recently, Mishra et al have suggested an economic revision of Kuppuswami's scale in order to account for the devaluation of rupee.

In the Rural areas, Pareekh classification based on nine characteristics namely
1.Caste
2.Occupation of family head
3.Educatiion of family head
4.Level of social participation of family head
5.Landholding
6.Housing
7.Farm power
8.Material possessions
9.Type of family.

The present instrument is proposed to measure the socio-economic status of the family and is neither based on the individual nor on the head of the family. Unlike the commonly used Kuppuswami Scale and later its modification, the modified version of Kuppuswami Scale and Pareekh Scale, the instrument developed by us is applicable both for urban as well as rural families. Moreover, the instrument has been developed for all sections of the Society.

Here I am giving Latest Data regarding to both Classifications commonly used.....

PRASAD'S CLASSIFICATION

Social Class	PRASAD'S CLASSIFICATION 1961	MODIFIED PRASAD'S CLASSIFICATION 1997
1	100 and above	1900 and above
2	50-99	950-1899
3	30-49	570-949
4	15-29	285-569
5	below 15	below 284

KUPPUSWAMI'S CLASSIFICATION
It is Based on Education, Occupation and Income Of Family Head.

A. EDUCATION

Professional Degree , PG and Abobe	7
Graduate	6
Intermediate or Past High School Diploma	5
High School Certificate	4
Middle School Completion	3
Primary School or Literate	2
Illiterate	1

B.OCCUPATION

Profession	10
Semi Profession	6
Clerk, Shop Owner, Farm Owner	5
Skilled Worker	4
Semi Skilled Worker	3
Unskilled	2
Unemployed	1

C.PER CAPITA INCOME ( Rs. Per Month )

1500 or above	12
750-1499	10
565-749	6
375-564	4
225-374	3
75-224	2
Below 75	1

The Total Score is Graded as follows :

Upper	26-29
Upper Middle	16-25
Lower Middle	11-15
Upper Lower	5-10
Lower	< 5

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