Table 2.

Social stratification process over time (year) driven by upward/downward mobility (values presented as probabilities) for males, females, and combined sexes.

Number of Years	Male (H-H/L-L)	Female (H-H/L-L)	Combined (H-H/L-L)
2	0.9238/0.6715	0.8597/0.6586	0.8909/0.6646
4	0.8784/0.4759	0.7870/0.4817	0.8303/0.4783
8	0.8353/0.2902	0.7298/0.3424	0.7779/0.3173
16	0.8146/0.2011	0.7107/0.2949	0.7568/0.2523
32	0.8117/0.1886	0.7088/0.2912	0.7546/0.2455

A Markov process stabilizes when the two diagonal elements (H-H and L-L) asymptotically approach certain values (limiting probabilities). By our operational definition (see the Methods section), the limiting probabilities are reached between 16 and 32 years, approximately the lifespan for males and females as adult.