Yes, and there are probably a lot of immediate factors leading to that.

But this is the overall the result of an "anthropological reversal", meaning the society switch its focus on older generations rather than the younger ones.

Most policies in the last decades had the goal of favoring the silent and boomer generations ("boomers always win": ZIPR, assets inflation, etc.).

Millennials and Gen Z got wreaked, plus they know they might have to pay the debt left by the previous generations one way or another. So why not just dying, it is easier.

There is an emerging link between COVID-19 and long-term DNA damage. They noted this group was under-vaccinated so were possibly more likely to have contracted the virus, and also more than once.

But this story could be about more recent environmental pathogens like micro-plastics that trigger inflammation and auto-immune responses that progress into disease and/or cancer. Cancer rates in that generation is markedly higher than for previous generations at that age, and not just a case of better detection but hospital admissions and death.

> Among those aged 25 to 44, a group we call “early adults"

A 40 year old is federally protected from age discrimination (for being too old) and can have children which are legally adults. No one is calling this age group "early adults".

well yeah life sucks!