Figure 3
The stacked area chart illustrates the relative frequency distribution of 25,000 individuals’ education and income statuses between ages 16 to 30. 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. The vertical axis is labeled “Rel. Freq. (n equals 25000)” and ranges from 0.0 to 1.0 in increments of 0.2. The chart is divided into multiple color-coded layers, each representing a category. At age 16, dark gray and magenta occupy large portions of the lower and upper sections, while green appears at the bottom. Moving to the right and above this green region is a peach region, followed by a purple, then yellow to blue, and magenta, the smaller upper segments. As age increases toward 23, the colored areas shift, with gray and magenta sections decreasing while peach, purple, yellow, and blue expand. By age 30, the blue region dominates the upper section, showing that most individuals have achieved normal income levels. The green and gray regions near the base narrow significantly, while peach and purple maintain moderate widths in a downward trend in a step-like pattern.State distribution plot of sample. Source: Figure created by authors