Younger people were already adversely impacted by unemployment and high real estate prices, so I think it's hard to see how it would have been even practically

Younger people were already adversely impacted by unemployment and high real estate prices, so I think it's hard to see how it would have been even practically possible to have any other pandemic outcome than a disparity in how the generations were affected. It has simply underlined the socio-economic differences already present, for example in who can and cannot choose to work from home.