An Update of B.G. Prasad and Kuppuswamy Socio-Economic Status Classification Scale for Indian Population

Excerpt

To the Editor: The two most widely used socio-economic status scales (SES) for classifying the people by socio-economic status are Kuppuswamy SES scale and B.G. Prasad SES. Both the indices are dynamic and depend upon the consumer price index (CPI). Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an index of the variation in prices for retail goods and services that households acquire for the purpose of consumption. CPI numbers are widely used as an indicator of inflation. Labour Bureau, Govt. of India releases three CPI: CPI for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) base 2001, CPI for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL) base 1986–87 and CPI for Rural Labourers (CPI-RL) base 1984–85. The most commonly used and the most appropriate CPI for revision of socio-economic classifications has been CPI (IW) as it represents the expenditure of a normal working class family. …