Table 2.

Socioeconomic status (SES) measures

SES measure group*	Number of studies	Specific measures included in group
Parental education	56 studies	Maternal education; paternal education; highest parental educational level; years of education; qualifications achieved
Income	49 studies	Household income; equivalised household income using OECD method; urban income
Poverty	42 studies	Relationship to Federal Poverty Line (USA); <60% of national median income (UK); receipt of social safety net benefits
Occupational class	37 studies	UK Registrar General's social class; UK National Statistics Socio-economic Classification; other country classifications (Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Holland); Bilshen Occupational Scale (Canada)
Area-based SES measures	35 studies	UK deprivation indices (Townsend; Carstairs); Acorn area classification (UK); census-derived area income measures (USA and Canada); Socio-economic Indicators for Area—SEIFA (Australia); inner city vs suburbs
Housing tenure	11 studies—all UK	Rented vs owner-occupied accommodation
Workless household	9 studies	Households with no working adult
Composite individual level SES measures	7 studies	Winkler index; occupation and education of both mothers and fathers; occupation and education of both parents and household income; social disadvantage index (occupation; housing tenure; car ownership)
Other	8 studies	Material hardship (unable to afford essential items); debt; car ownership; family affluence scale

*Thirty-seven per cent of studies reported more than one SES measure.

OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.