Socioeconomica – The Scientific Journal for Theory and Practice of Socio-economic Development 2015, 4(7): 167-174

Pregled Review UDC: 316.3:330.3:1e(540) DOI : dx.doi.org/10.12803/SJSECO.4711915 JEL: A14, E31

REVISED SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS SCALE FOR URBAN AND RURAL INDIA – REVISION FOR 2015

Revidirana društveno-ekonomska skala statura urbane i ruralne Indije – Revizija za 2015§ Guru Raj M.S. Institute of Medical Sicences and Reseach Centre Bangalore Department of Community Medicine Sapthagiri Shilpa S. Institute of Medical Sicences and Reseach Centre Bangalore Department of Community Medicine Sapthagiri Maheshwaran, R. Institute of Medical Sicences and Reseach Centre Bangalore Department of Community Medicine Sapthagiri

Prishtina

The health status of any country depends on the socio economic status (SES) and the per capita income of the citizens of that country. The SES also decides the affordability and utilization of the health facilities. Socioeconomic status (SES) refers to an individual’s position within a hierarchical social structure, which is one of the important determinants of health status. Composite scales are generally used to measure the SES, which has a combination of social and economic variables. Several studies namely hospital and community based require assessment of socio-economic status of an individual/family. This reflects the affordability of health services, necessities and purchasing power of the same. Several methods or scales have ℘

Kontakt autora: [email protected]. Autori izjavljuju da nemaju značajne materijalne ili finansijske interese koji se odnose na istraživanje opisano u ovom radu. Takođe, autori izjavljuju da je podneti članak njihov originalan rad i da nakon izdavanja ništa od sadržine neće predstavljati povredu autorskog prava. Rad primljen 25.03.2015. godine. Odobren za objavljivanje 05.05.2015. godine. The authors declare that they have no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Also, the authors declare that the submitted paper is their original work and that, upon publication, nothing contained in it will not constitute an infringement of any copyright. Paper received 25.03.2015. Approved 05.05.2015. §

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Guru Raj M.S. | Shilpa S. | Maheswaran R. Revised socio-economic status scale for urban and rural India – Revision for 2015

been proposed for classifying different populations by socioeconomic status: Rahudkar scale 1960, Udai Parikh scale 1964, Jalota Scale 1970, Kulshrestha scale 1972, Kuppuswamy scale 1976, Shrivastava scale 1978, Bharadwaj scale 2001. Kuppuswamy classification is used in urban and peri urban areas which consider the education of the head of family, occupation of head of the family and per capita monthly income. Uday Pareekh classification is used for rural areas which takes into account following characteristics namely caste, occupation of family head, education of family head, and level of social participation of family head, landholding, housing, farm power, material possessions and type of family. B.G Prasad’s classification, Standard of living index and poverty line assessment are used in both urban and rural areas. Standard of living indices(SLI) is based on following items- type of house, own/ rented house, possession of agricultural land, irrigated land, possession of live stalk, separate kitchen, fuel used for cooking, source of lighting, source of drinking water, type of toilet, items owned by the family e.g. cooker, TV, telephone. Measurement of poverty line is based on the following Scoreable Socio- Economic indicators: Size of operational landholding, Type of house, Availability of clothes, Food security, Sanitation, Ownership of consumer durables, Literacy status, Status of household labour force, Means of livelihood, Status of children (going to school),Type of indebtedness, Reason for migration from household and Preference for financial assistance. However, social transformation and fast growing economy have rendered these scales ineffective in measuring the SES at present. Hence considering present factors two most commonly used classifications i.e. Kuppuswamy classification and the B G Prasad classification has been revised.This revision enables and equips community related scientists in their quest for socioeconomic status.

1. Kuppuswamy’s socio-economic status scale –revision for 2015 The Kuppuswamy scale proposed in 1976, measures the SES of an individual based on three variables namely, education and occupation of the head of the household and income of the family.5Of the three variables, education and occupation of the head of the household do not change frequently with time. However, the steady inflation and the resultant devaluation of the rupee necessitate periodic revisions of the income variable. The previous revisions of the scale were done in the years 1998 and 2007. Need for revision: Realizing the value of this important tool we need to keep this updated as the price index is increasing (as this scale is consumer price index based). If it is not revised it will lose its utility. Mishra, undertook the important task of revision of family income per month for 1998 using base year 1982=100.Presently the base year has been changed from 1982 to current base year 2001. The changes in the income scale are proportional to the change in the Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers—CPI (IW). The CPI values are interpreted with reference to a particular base year. The previous base years were 1960, 1982 and 2001. The latest CPI-(IW) available for January 2015 has been calculated taking 2001 as the base year. We have attempted updating the income scale for January 2015 using the corresponding CPI-(IW) value. To begin with we calculated the income scale for the selected years 1982 and 2001 which coincides with change in base year for calculation of CPI by applying the appropriate conversion factors on the original scale (Table – 1). We have presented the values for the current base year 2001, which facilitates the easier updating of the income scale every year or even every month based on the

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Socioeconomica – The Scientific Journal for Theory and Practice of Socio-economic Development 2015, 4(7): 167-174

CPI revisions. The researcher has to calculate the multiplication factor for the period of research by dividing the CPI value for the period by 100 (base value at 2001). All India Average Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers (Base 2001=100) shows general index as 254 on January 2015 . The income scale of 2001 is then multiplied by the multiplication factor to update the scale for the desired period. For example, the CPI value as on January 2015 is 254. So the multiplication factor for January 2015 is 254/100=2.54.Multiplying the income scale of 2001 by 2.54 updates the scale for January 2015 (Table – 1). It is the responsibility of the researchers to take note of the periodic revisions in the CPI values before attempting socioeconomic classification of their study population. This method makes it easy for the researcher to update the income scale to the latest available CPI values. Table – 1. Proposed updation of kuppuswamy classification of socioeconomic status—january 2015 I. Education S.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 II. Ocupation S.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Education of the head

Score

Profession or Honors Graduate or post graduate Intermediate or post high school diploma High school certificate Middle school certificate Primary school certificate Illiterate Occupation of the head

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Score

Profession Semi-Profession Clerical, Shop-owner Skilled worker Semi-skilled worker Unskilled worker Unemployed

III. Income S.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 IV. Total Score Score 26-29 16-25 11-15 5-10