Half of Americans born in the 1980s are falling behind their parents economically. These younger adults are experiencing ‘downward mobility’— they’re not doing as well, either socially or economically, as their parents were at the same age. In other words, Americans’ quality of life could be dropping.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, which creates a government pension system for retired people. The act lays the groundwork for the modern welfare system in the United States, providing assistance for the elderly, unemployed and children. (Photo: In this file photo, worker Lillie Steinhorn, 74, stands inside the computer tape storage room at the headquarters of the Social Security Administration in Baltimore.)

UPDATE: Two VOA journalists have been released after being detained by Chinese authorities on Monday. The Voice of America Mandarin Service correspondent and a multimedia journalist working for VOA were held for at least six hours Monday evening. The two journalists were taken into custody as they attempted to interview a retired Chinese professor who was taken away by police during a live television interview with VOA nearly two weeks ago.

A Honduran man and his 12-year-old daughter were separated for months, even though they crossed the border at a legal point of entry and presented themselves to US border officials. This happened back in March, a month before the Trump administration implemented its zero-tolerance policy requiring family separations. The father-daughter duo did everything by the book, yet they were separated.

VOA CONNECT: Citizens become scientists as sea levels rise in Miami, Florida. In need of extra manpower, professional scientists are training residents to observe flooding and collect information that will help experts better understand the local impact of sea level rise.

Cows are the economic lifeblood in some of India’s Muslim-majority villages. But owning a cow for dairy, or being suspected of taking cows for slaughter, can be dangerous in a country where the dominant Hindu religious group considers the cow to be a holy animal. After a Muslim man was recently beaten to death while walking with his cows, many Muslims live in fear of cow vigilantes.