If recent graduates did NOT take on student-loan debt, majored in a degree which is WORTH something to employers and chose to live in and look for work in a city/area which has companies who are hiring, their outlook is MUCH better than this story indicates. These recent grads will be able to buy RE in the next few years, IMO.
The students who graduated with voluminous student loan debt and even cc debt and/or who chose to get a degree in something which does not prepare them for a job immediately after graduation have put themselves into the situation they are in today, IMHO. It’s due to their bad choices every bit as much as (if not more than) a “slow economy.”