2026-10-21
5 分钟The Economist.
Hi, I'm Sarah Wu, co-host of Drum Tower, our podcast about China.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
We've handpicked an article for you from the latest edition of The Economist.
We hope you enjoy listening.
Millennials born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s had a brutal coming of age.
Many graduated in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Youth unemployment rose above 50% in some parts of Europe, leading to talk of a lost generation.
Living with their parents and deprived of the prospect of owning a home,
they were lectured by unsympathetic elders not to spend so much money on brunch.
Today, millennials, aged around 30 to 45, have dramatically turned their fortunes round.
They earn more than any other recent generation did at the same age and are catching up in terms of home ownership.
At the same time, millennial-era culture is enjoying a revival in television, music, gaming,
and even fashion, where their notoriously tight trousers are cool once again.
Some of this is simply the way of the world.
As generations age, they get better jobs, earn more, and buy homes.
Millennials are not the first lot to reach middle age and revive the culture of their youth.
The 1970s witnessed a 1950s revival with a rock and roll renaissance, happy days, and grease.
In the 1990s, bell-bottoms and tie-dye emerged from the back of wardrobes.
Nostalgia reliably runs on a two-decade timetable.