Updated Kuppuswamy Socioeconomic Status Scale for the Year 2026

Dear Editor, Socioeconomic status (SES) is a fundamental determinant of child health and survival, influencing nutritional status, susceptibility to infectious diseases, and access to healthcare services. Recent evidence has shown that childhood stunting, wasting, and infectious disease burden remain strongly linked with socioeconomic deprivation and inequitable access to health resources.[1,2] Modified Kuppuswamy scale remains one of the most widely used SES assessment tools in urban and periurban areas because of its structured design and operational simplicity. However, rapid economic transitions and social structures render it obsolete, necessitating periodic revisions. Several revisions of the scale have been published; however, a large heterogeneity can be observed. To ensure consistency, we have used the original income categories and applied standardized Consumer Price Index–Industrial Worker (CPI–IW) linking factors (LF) to revise the income thresholds for 2026. CPI–IW LF of 4.93 (1960–1982), 4.63 (1982–2001), and 2.88 (2001–2016) were applied to account for cumulative inflation across base revisions.[3] Inflation from 2016 to 2025 was incorporated using the CPI–IW value for December 2025 (148.2; base 2016 = 100), yielding a multiplier of 1.482.[4] As the original Kuppuswamy income limits correspond to the 1976 price level (CPI 296 on the 1960 base), the cumulative multiplier was adjusted by dividing by 2.96 to align with the 1976 reference year. Cumulative Update Factor = [(CPI–IW 2025/100) × (LF 1960–1982 × LF 1982–2001 × LF 2001–2016)]/(CPI 1976 (1960 base)/100) The Updated Monthly Family Income Classification for 2026 is shown in Table 1.Table 1: Updated monthly family income classification for the modified Kuppuswamy scale (2026).Despite its continued relevance, the modified Kuppuswamy scale has inherent limitations. National income cutoffs do not account for regional cost-of-living differences, and reliance on self-reported liquid income may lead to nonresponse, underestimation, and inadequate capture of irregular earnings among informal workers. Additionally, the subjective definition of the household head may not reflect overall family education, evolving occupational categories including homemakers and retirees, or variations in family structure that influence intrahousehold resource distribution.[5] Newer scales, including the Standard of Living Index and India’s Multidimensional Poverty Index, using comprehensive measures might prove to be better indicators of SES.[5] Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest to declare.