Measuring Poverty in Southern India: A Comparison of Socio-Economic Scales Evaluated against Childhood Stunting

Autor: Gagandeep Kang, Ankita Henry, Rajiv Sarkar, Jordanna Devi Deosaran, Victoria Jiang, Srinivasan Venugopal, Vasanthakumar Velusamy, Deepthi Kattula, S Mahasampath Gowri, Jayaprakash Muliyil
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
0106 biological sciences
Male
Economics
Social Sciences
lcsh:Medicine
01 natural sciences
Multidimensional Poverty Index
Geographical Locations
Families
0302 clinical medicine
Economic inequality
Sociology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Medicine and Health Sciences
Economics of Poverty
Odds Ratio
Public and Occupational Health
030212 general & internal medicine
Human Families
10. No inequality
Socioeconomics
Child
lcsh:Science
Children
Growth Disorders
education.field_of_study
Human Capital
Multidisciplinary
Schools
1. No poverty
Socioeconomic Aspects of Health
Professions
Geography
Child
Preschool
Female
Research Article
Asia
Population
India
Context (language use)
Education
03 medical and health sciences
Humans
Social Stratification
education
Socioeconomic status
Poverty
Estimation
lcsh:R
Infant
Health Care
010602 entomology
Logistic Models
Social Class
Age Groups
People and Places
Measuring poverty
Population Groupings
lcsh:Q
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 11, Iss 8, p e0160706 (2016)
PLoS ONE
ISSN: 1932-6203
Popis: Introduction Socioeconomic status (SES) scales measure poverty, wealth and economic inequality in a population to guide appropriate economic and public health policies. Measurement of poverty and comparison of material deprivation across nations is a challenge. This study compared four SES scales which have been used locally and internationally and evaluated them against childhood stunting, used as an indicator of chronic deprivation, in urban southern India. Methods A door-to-door survey collected information on socio-demographic indicators such as education, occupation, assets, income and living conditions in a semi-urban slum area in Vellore, Tamil Nadu in southern India. A total of 7925 households were categorized by four SES scales—Kuppuswamy scale, Below Poverty Line scale (BPL), the modified Kuppuswamy scale, and the multidimensional poverty index (MDPI) and the level of agreement compared between scales. Logistic regression was used to test the association of SES scales with stunting. Findings The Kuppuswamy, BPL, MDPI and modified Kuppuswamy scales classified 7.1%, 1%, 5.5%, and 55.3% of families as low SES respectively, indicating conservative estimation of low SES by the BPL and MDPI scales in comparison with the modified Kuppuswamy scale, which had the highest sensitivity (89%). Children from low SES classified by all scales had higher odds of stunting, but the level of agreement between scales was very poor ranging from 1%-15%. Conclusion There is great non-uniformity between existing SES scales and cautious interpretation of SES scales is needed in the context of social, cultural, and economic realities.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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