Millenials born in late 80s or early 90s may not remember but it could still have affected their childhood.
Also, it could not have. “Could” anything is pretty vague. Every childhood had a preceding history.
‘Could’ specifies a possibility of an event occurring, as opposed to no possibility.
For example, I could have rice for dinner, however there is no way I could jump to the moon.
When applied to the context of this conversation:
A person born in the 90s could have had their childhood affected by the recession in the 80s. A person born in the 50s could not have had their childhood affected by the recession in the 80s.
Could is only vague in the scope of probability; this is because it’s a confirmation of the possibility, rather than a defined probability.
