Rise of Indian

Rise
of
Indian middle class
and

Middle Class and

its impact

Its Impact
 Indian Middle Class
• The socioeconomic class between the working class and the upper
class, usually including professionals, highly skilled labourers, and
lower and middle management.

• Indian middle class is defined as those who can spend between $2

and $20 per day, according to Asian Development Bank.

• A recent study by CNN-IBN and the Hindustan Times suggested a

“simple consumer-based criterion” for membership of the middle
class: ownership of a telephone, a two or four-wheel (motorized)
vehicle, and a color television. Under this definition, the middle class
makes up nearly 20 per cent of the population—200m people.
 Over the next two decades, India’s
middle class will grow from about 5 per
cent to more than 40 per cent and
create the world’s 5th largest consumer
market.

- McKinsey Quarterly 2007

 Emergence over the years ..

SNo Pre 1990 Post 1990

1 Values were more family Values are more individual
and community-centric. centric .
2 Greater emphasis on rituals Structural rigidity in ritualistic
. behaviour has slowly
disappeared giving rise to
‘nominalism’ or token
adherence.
3 Comparatively less Spending power has
spending power. increased and with it , an
increased affinity towards a
better lifestyle and foreign
goods.
4 Minimal participation in Mushrooming of NGOs and
welfare activities . organization of public
demonstrations & protests
mainly attributed to the
middle class .
5 Less inclination to higher Foreign land is considered a
Factors leading to the Rise of Indian
Middle Class
• Rapid growth of Indian Economy in the past few
years, which has led to rise in income levels of
the people
• Opening up of market post globalization
• Exposure to outside world and modern
education, which has shaped their thinking
All the above factors are closely inter-related
–> one of them generally has led to another.
 Impacts
• A different approach to education
• Emergence of Nuclear families
• Changing trends of Consumerism
• Increased participation in welfare activities
IMPROVED EDUCATION

• All professional education is taken

and given by the middle class.“
• – Arun Jamkar, dean, B.J. Medical
College, Pune,

• Middle class has a higher affordability

than the poorer sections of the
society and hence form the of the
education system
• the salaried middle class have always
believed: "The only way its children could
get a fair chance to earn an honest living
was to excel academically."
 • when we talk higher education, in a
sense, we are talking about the very
creation and growth of a modern middle
class in post-Independent India. In the
past two or three decades, the neo-middle
class, with its higher earnings, zooming
aspirations and growing confidence
helped elevate the socio-economic status
of entire segments of our population.
- Rajesh Gajra,outlookindia
 EMERGENCE OF NUCLEAR
FAMILIES

• Mainly attributed to the

emergence of middle
class in india.
//general scenario
• Occupation in different
cities leading to the
breaking up of large joint
families and hence
spurring the growth of
nuclear families