Wave 1 income was collected as a continuous variable, with an average of $45,728, (N=15,351, SD=$51,616). Low-income respondents (with incomes below $25,000) had an average of $9,837 (N=3,049, SD=4,633). Wave 4 income was recorded as a categorical variable, however, where respondents indicated if they made under $5,000, between $5,000 and $10,000, between $10,000 and $15,000, etc. These categories were of different sizes, getting larger as the income grew larger. Therefore, in order to create comparable measures between Wave 1 and Wave 4, both incomes were converted to 5 groups, (1) household income of less than $25,000, (2) household income of $25,000 to $49,999, (3) household income of $50,000 to $74,000, (4) household income of $75,000 to $99,000, and (5) household income of over $100,000
Upward mobility (dependent variable); data surrounding household incomes of Wave 1 and Wave 4