Persistence of Poverty: How Measures of Socioeconomic Status Have Changed Over Time

Abstract

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a common measure used to gauge social, cultural, and financial capital in scientific literature. Over time, SES research has produced an extremely wide and inconsistently used variety of SES variables and components. This study will review research that estimates SES and will examine common components and trends from the inception of its measurement to present data. A systematic review protocol was used to gather literature related to SES, and a historical analysis was conducted to examine the SES variables and their components that were most commonly used in the literature. Results displayed varying trends by decade, with earlier SES measures including components on social capital and more recent measures incorporating aspects of cultural and economic capital. Subjective perspectives of social class became more common toward the turn of the century, and few measures included components from more asset-based frameworks. The Big 3 measures (parental education, parental occupation, and income) have been common measures across time.

Studies pertaining to language impairment in school-age autistic individuals underreport participant socio-demographics: A systematic review

“…For example, given the importance of gender diversity in autistic individuals (Walsh et al, 2018; Warrier et al, 2020), reporting only males or failing to specify whether studies report gender, gender identity, or sex is insufficient for broadly understanding findings. In addition, perceptions about SES as a construct have changed over time, with no one validated assessment of SES (Long & Renbarger, 2023). Thus, it is perhaps unsurprising that studies included in this review varied in metrics of SES; researchers have the challenge of deciding what indicators of SES are meaningful for their population and how to summarize them.…”

“…This lack of clarity in operationalizing SES in reporting guidelines is reflected in the research literature. A historical analysis revealed that although parental education, occupation, and income are persistently frequent measures of SES, earlier assessment of SES focused on social capital while more recent assessment considered cultural and economic capital (Long & Renbarger, 2023). In practical terms, assessing SES with one indicator is insufficient and may be misleading; a doctoral student may have low income but high educational attainment and access to opportunities.…”

Social Capital is Positively Associated with Self-rated Health Among Chinese Adolescents

“…This study focused on the nuanced facets of individual perceptions of social capital in the domains of family, neighborhood, and school (Grilo et al, 2023;Hoolihan & Thomas, 2020;Long & Renbarger, 2023). To assess family social capital, participants answered the speci c item: "Do you feel that your family understands you and gives attention to you?"…”

Parental education and income are linked to offspring cortical brain structure and psychopathology at 9-11 years

“…Representing a complex dimensional construct used to assess social, cultural, and financial capital, SES is often divided into material gains like income, and non-material gains such as education and occupation (Long & Renbarger, 2023). SES also encompasses subjective and individual experiences of social class (W. M. Liu et al, 2004), and cultural knowledge and abilities of marginalized minority groups that often go unrecognized (Yosso, 2005).…”

“…As theorized by sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, SES is a complex dimensional construct used to assess social (connections), cultural (skills, knowledge and education), symbolic (prestige), and financial capital (Bourdieu, 2011). Within neuroscience, SES is often assessed by material gains like income, and non-material gains such as education and occupation (Long & Renbarger, 2023). This tradition has been critiqued and expanded to include subjective and individual experiences of social class (W. M. Liu et al, 2004), and cultural knowledge and abilities of marginalized minority groups that often go unrecognized (Yosso, 2005).…”