Figure 2
The horizontal stacked plot displays educational and income trajectories for 25,000 individuals, sorted by sequence, with age on the horizontal axis and sequence count on the vertical axis. The horizontal axis is labeled with three age points—Age 16 on the left, Age 23 in the middle, and Age 30 on the right—while the vertical axis is labeled “25000 seq. (n equals 25000), sorted,” with tick marks at 1, 2328, 5527, 8726, 12216, 15997, 19778, and 23559. The rectangular plot is divided into multiple horizontal colored lines of different sizes and thicknesses, each representing an individual’s path over time from age 16 to 30. A legend box on the right identifies the color categories: light green for “Apprenticeship,” dark gray for “General upper secondary,” peach for “Higher education,” light purple for “Low income,” yellow for “N E E T,” dark blue for “Normal income,” magenta for “Vocational upper secondary,” and brown for “Supplementary year.” At age 16, most lines are dominated by solid color blocks, with magenta and dark gray appearing prominently in the upper and lower portions. Light green appears in several middle segments, while peach occupies smaller sections. As the chart progresses toward age 23, the colored segments become narrower and more mixed, showing transitions between educational phases and income statuses. By age 30, the pattern predominantly stabilizes into dark blue (normal income), indicating that most individuals achieve normal income status by that age.Overview of all sequences in sample ordered according to status at age 16. Source: Figure created by authors