This is an article I read on the topic.<p>If you are born to parents in the lowest quartile you have ~10% chance of making it into the highest by age 26. For people born in the highest the probability is ~30%.<p>(and if it was random it would, obviously, be 1&#x2F;4 = 25%)<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.economist.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;united-states&#x2F;21595437-america-no-less-socially-mobile-it-was-generation-ago-mobility-measured" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.economist.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;united-states&#x2F;21595437-america...</a>