Instant Opinion: ‘Millennials facing second downturn of their short careers’

The Week’s daily round-up highlights the five best opinion pieces from across the British and international media, with excerpts from each.

1. Annie Lowrey in The Atlantic

on financial frustrations

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Millennials don’t stand a chance

“It is too soon to know how the unfurling business-failure and unemployment crisis caused by this novel public-health crisis is hitting different age groups, or how much income and wealth each generation is losing; it is far too soon to know how different groups will rebound. But we do know that Millennials are vulnerable. They have smaller savings accounts than prior generations. They have less money invested. They own fewer houses to refinance or rent out or sell. They make less money, and are less likely to have benefits like paid sick leave. They have more than half a trillion dollars of student-loan debt to keep paying off, as well as hefty rent and child-care payments that keep coming due... Millennials now are facing the second once-in-a-lifetime downturn of their short careers. The first one put them on a worse lifetime-earnings trajectory and blocked them out of the asset market. The second is sapping their paychecks just as they enter their peak-earnings years”

2. The editorial board in the Financial Times

on how to mismanage a crisis

Mexico’s unfolding presidential tragedy

“More and more voices in Mexico’s elite are speaking of a looming tragedy. Business leaders have proposed an alternative virus response plan. The odd dissenting voice within Mr Lopez Obrador’s governing alliance can sometimes be heard. But Mexico has an imperial presidency and an imperious president. Time is perilously short. Politicians across party lines, state governors and business leaders should unite to agree a comprehensive economic and health programme to deal with the coronavirus and press it upon their president. Legal challenges should be launched against some of his more questionable policies. The appalling humanitarian catastrophe of Venezuela stands as a clear warning of what another four and a half years of Mr Lopez Obrador could do to Mexico.”

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3. Victor Sande-Aneiros on Al Jazeera

on the acquittal of Cardinal George Pell

The fight for justice for sexual abuse survivors must go on

“For some survivors of childhood sexual abuse, there will simply not be sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person they accuse is guilty. This can be traumatic for the survivors who will not see their perpetrators held accountable for their actions, but it is a fact in justice systems that guarantee fair trials, no matter who the accused is or what they are accused of.”

4. David Leonhardt in The New York Times

on Biden’s latest supporter

Bernie’s endorsement matters

“It qualifies as a significant development that Sanders chose to endorse Joe Biden in April, less than a week after ending his own campaign. In 2016, by contrast, he waited until July to endorse Clinton. Sanders’s decision this time seems to reflect three things: his desire to help defeat Trump; the danger of voting during a pandemic; and a genuine personal affinity between Sanders and Biden. Endorsements aren’t all powerful, and no doubt some Sanders voters will still choose to stay home or support Trump. But in all likelihood, fewer of them will do so this year than did four years ago, especially if Sanders campaigns energetically for Biden. And Biden is likely to need those voters.”

5. Chava Gourarie in The Independent

on Judaism on TV

I left my Chasidic community. Here's what Unorthodox missed out

“The first time I wore jeans I was 27, and they were actually jeggings from H&M. What had stopped me until that point was a mix of guilt and the fact that I could not figure out how the sizing worked. I’d stood in countless dressing rooms, eyeing the unfamiliar curves of my thighs, and had no idea how to gauge if I looked good in what I’d chosen. Then, when I finally mastered skinny jeans in roughly 2018, the styles had changed, and now I have to learn how to wear straight jeans, and boyfriend jeans, and wide-legged jeans, all of which remain a complete mystery to me.”