What is the age range of Millennials, anyway?

[llj]

I referred to Millennials in a post just now in another thread, assuming it was people in their late teens and early to mid 20s. But googling it seems to suggest that Millennials could be defined as being people being born as far back as the early 1980s--that doesn't seem right to me. To me, there is a distinct divide between those people born in the early 80s--who are now starting to settle down and get married--and those people born after 1990, who are young, single and still in their physical primes.

I had always assumed that Gen Y came BEFORE Millennials, but some places have put them as being the same generation. I'd always thought Gen Y was something like 1979-1989.

By some definitions, *I* could be considered a Millennial (some places have Gen Y starting from 1976) and that definitely doesn't feel right--there's a world of difference between those in their mid 20s and people my age.

On the other hand, I don't feel like I belong with Gen X either (the Breakfast Club or 'Friends' generation) who are now in their 40s approaching their 50s.

What do you guys think? Millennials born after 1990? Before that? Or maybe even after 1995?

[usamimi]

I'm always confused about that, too. Like you, I always assumed it was someone born closer to the Millennium (like mid to late 90s), but like you, just recently I heart on a news show a host state millennials were anyone born between the 80s and early 00s and I was so confused!! What about Gen Y & Gen Xers? Suddenly they're in the same group?? Ugh.

I kinda hate the term "millennial" anyway, it seems to be the news/marketers/old people's new word for "dumb, ungrateful young people who're ruining the world". Anyone who's not an old fart, basically.

[llj]

My impression of Millennials are young adults who are extremely tech savvy and people who basically grew up with the online world most of if not ALL their lives. People born in the early 80s might only really started using computers for everyday stuff in their mid teens. I'm thinking Millennials are more the people who were on Friendster and MySpace back when they 10-12 years old. So I definitely think there needs to be a split between Millennials and the one previous--so let's call them Gen Y separately from the Millennials.

And yes, I think Millennials are often shallow and ungrateful young people.

That said, I think Millennials are already a much more important generation than the one just previous, which is mine. I have to say, I think my generation has been largely irrelevant in terms of our worldly impact. That's even worse. If you think about it, Baby Boomers are still the generation that controls the way most of the world works financially, and Generation X has found its niche now by shaping much of pop culture today. Millennials are shaping online culture and are the target consumers of most companies today. My generation? Is it Generation Y? (Or for me, more specifically XY?). What are we doing right now? The Boomers have more money than us, the Millennials are more tech savvy and clever, and Generation X seems to have fallen in with working in tandem with The Boomers now. It just seems like out of all the generations, we have the least ambition to do anything. I don't mean to sound morose. I simply feel like we're kind of a doormat generation for the other ones. I sometimes wonder if we're the REAL Lost Generation, not those who grew up during WWI (which was a highly underrated generation; they sacrificed a lot so that the Baby Boomer generation could thrive)

[Akage]

I disagree with thinking that Gen Y got the short end of the stick. How many Millennials have you spoken with lately? Those that I know are frustrated that they are loaded with tuition debt due to their inability to get a good paying job in their field. They feel utterly deceived - Their entire lives were spent being told how 'special' they are and how they can be anything they want to be, only to get out into the real world and discover that they needed 10 years job experience for an entry level job that can barely cover rent.

I don't really think that the Millennials are any more savvy than Gen X or Y. Gen X & Y embraced technology as well, readily buying Apple IIes, Atari/Nintendo/Sega, the first iPods and whatever else came their way. The only difference is that technology has made everything so much more visible now than it ever was. You can tweet what you ate for breakfast today and the rest of the world will instantly know. Millennials are being catered to by companies because they're the ones spending money now. Gen X and Y were, as a whole, a much more thrifty generation, concerned with saving for homes, children and retirement because that's what their Boomer parents taught them to do. 10 years ago, companies like Toyota released cars catering to Gen X and Gen Y. Now that this generation is using their money on mortgages and their offspring, the companies are moving on to the next generation. My experience with Millennials has been that they have very strange priorities, often putting off saving for a house or a car in lieu of buying the latest Android or iPhone. My own cousins are perfect examples of this. One is in law school funded by her mother while the other works on a ranch yet they both have an iPhone 6S.

[usamimi]

I disagree with thinking that Gen Y got the short end of the stick. How many Millennials have you spoken with lately? Those that I know are frustrated that they are loaded with tuition debt due to their inability to get a good paying job in their field. They feel utterly deceived - Their entire lives were spent being told how 'special' they are and how they can be anything they want to be, only to get out into the real world and discover that they needed 10 years job experience for an entry level job that can barely cover rent.

I don't really think that the Millennials are any more savvy than Gen X or Y. Gen X & Y embraced technology as well, readily buying Apple IIes, Atari/Nintendo/Sega, the first iPods and whatever else came their way. The only difference is that technology has made everything so much more visible now than it ever was. You can tweet what you ate for breakfast today and the rest of the world will instantly know. Millennials are being catered to by companies because they're the ones spending money now. Gen X and Y were, as a whole, a much more thrifty generation, concerned with saving for homes, children and retirement because that's what their Boomer parents taught them to do. 10 years ago, companies like Toyota released cars catering to Gen X and Gen Y. Now that this generation is using their money on mortgages and their offspring, the companies are moving on to the next generation. My experience with Millennials has been that they have very strange priorities, often putting off saving for a house or a car in lieu of buying the latest Android or iPhone. My own cousins are perfect examples of this. One is in law school funded by her mother while the other works on a ranch yet they both have an iPhone 6S.

Yeah, I'm pretty much in this camp of thinking, too. I don't think poorly of Millennials--TV likes to tell us they're all selfie-taking morons that can't move out of the house, but considering how shitty the job market is still in some areas, and how most of them will be stuck paying student loans for the next 20 years with not much to show for it...my mother went through all that, too, and that was over 20 years ago! So I feel for em. I also agree that I don't think they're necessarily MORE tech savvy...I feel like they just seem a lot more open to trying new tech than some age groups.

[Akage]

I don't think poorly of Millennials--TV likes to tell us they're all selfie-taking morons that can't move out of the house, but considering how shitty the job market is still in some areas, and how most of them will be stuck paying student loans for the next 20 years with not much to show for it...

But, at the same time, I want to smack these Millennials who whine about not having a high paying job in their dream field right out of college, tell them to suck it up and adjust. My ranch worker cousin is a perfect example of this. She wants to train horses for a living but there aren't many of these types of jobs around and it frustrates her that she can't continue to do this professionally.

When I've talked to my cousins and other younger friends about how I had to adjust from my major to what I ended up doing professionally, some get downright belligerent. "Well, that's just you" or "I'm not going to give up on my dreams like you" are the usual responses I hear. The notion of 'working to live' instead of 'living to work' does not register. Nor does attempting to explain that you can still do what you love during your down time when you have a steady job and income. Many Millennials feel that it is their inalienable right to work and be paid well in the field of their choosing, forgetting the fact that many of those already in the field spent years getting their or had to make adjustments in their career path and settled there. Reading stories on social media of those their same age who are living their dream have not helped, as many feel that if one person can do it, they are entitled to that success as well.

I feel that there is a very big divide between Gen X/Y and the Millennials, largely centering on entitlements. While I realize that all generations feel the next generation is lacking, when it comes to values, I don't feel that big of a gap between my parents and their parents. My parents and grandparents all believed that success came about through hard work and sacrifice. I don't see that same belief with many Millennials. The ones that I have met largely feel that the world owes them something and that they deserve to work in the field they love at the salary they want. So, while to a certain extent I feel bad that they're coming of age in a global economy with a lot of competition for the handful of jobs that pay a middle class wage, I also shrug and say "What generation hasn't had their own battle to fight?"

[usamimi]

Mmm, that's true. I don't interact with a lot of people I'd consider in the Millennial group, so maybe thats why I'm a little sympathetic? But I have seen in the wild kids who SEEM to have that attitude & I always try to hope that there's more to their personality than that (hopefully!!)

We do have a family friend who is not quite twenty and seems to have a similar "I keep trying to fly before I even know how to walk" sort of mindset, and trying to convince them that they need to be a little more realistic seems nearly impossible. But they were homeschooled, so I always assumed that was a big factor in the way they are now.

[Kame-Sen'nin]

I think by most definitions I am considered a millenial...cue the boos!

As far as the age range of millenials goes, it definitely seems to be different depending on who is defining it. The definition that immediately popped up on Google, "a person reaching young adulthood around the year 2000", sounds good but isn't particularly descriptive. It gets pretty confusing trying to figure out the differences between Generation Y and millenials. On top of that, the "Generation C" concept seems to overlap multiple groups.

[llj]

I disagree with thinking that Gen Y got the short end of the stick. How many Millennials have you spoken with lately? Those that I know are frustrated that they are loaded with tuition debt due to their inability to get a good paying job in their field. They feel utterly deceived - Their entire lives were spent being told how 'special' they are and how they can be anything they want to be, only to get out into the real world and discover that they needed 10 years job experience for an entry level job that can barely cover rent.

I don't really think that the Millennials are any more savvy than Gen X or Y. Gen X & Y embraced technology as well, readily buying Apple IIes, Atari/Nintendo/Sega, the first iPods and whatever else came their way. The only difference is that technology has made everything so much more visible now than it ever was. You can tweet what you ate for breakfast today and the rest of the world will instantly know. Millennials are being catered to by companies because they're the ones spending money now. Gen X and Y were, as a whole, a much more thrifty generation, concerned with saving for homes, children and retirement because that's what their Boomer parents taught them to do. 10 years ago, companies like Toyota released cars catering to Gen X and Gen Y. Now that this generation is using their money on mortgages and their offspring, the companies are moving on to the next generation. My experience with Millennials has been that they have very strange priorities, often putting off saving for a house or a car in lieu of buying the latest Android or iPhone. My own cousins are perfect examples of this. One is in law school funded by her mother while the other works on a ranch yet they both have an iPhone 6S.

Haha, somehow I knew someone here would defend our generation (I'm assuming most here are Gen X or Y). I don't really see how Millennials with their obsession with iphones and laptops and whatnot is any different from Boomers who were obsessed with getting the latest car or TV back in the day, or Gen X and Y the latest computers. In fact, Gen X and Y's compulsion for always pushing the latest computer models is one of the reasons why having a computer is not a luxury but rather a *necessity* now. We enabled that added complication to our lives (and subsequent fees associated with a dependence on computers). The Millennials are only picking up the ball on that, and companies like Apple now are producing new tech items SO MUCH QUICKER than they did in the past.

And it's not just Millennials who are dependent on their parents for money--you hear MANY reports now that people in their 30s now--that's most of us--who are STILL largely dependent on the Boomers for finance.

The thing you have to understand, though, is that Boomers weren't necessarily "wiser" than we are, or Millennials, it's just that their financial mistakes in their youth were much less costly and easier to rebound from. There were more jobs--this is a fact as we know many jobs 30-40 years ago have become automated now--and they paid better, relative to lifestyle costs. Look at how many families in the 50s, 60s and 70s which had stay-at-home-moms. Forget feminism spurring more women to the workplace--it simply is difficult to support a middle class (does this even really exist anymore?) family now with only 1 parent getting income.

The fact is, there really is far less room for financial error now in your 20s than it was for the Boomer era. Even accounting for inflation, living expenses are higher, car insurance, property taxes, mortgages, gas, food, utility, clothing, school, INTERNET, phone bills...the concept of a "normal" standard of living costs more now than it was for Boomers, and a with far less rewards to show for it.

But you know, life in the online era--that IS being shaped by Millennials. Say what you will about them, but they are shaping a new era in a completely different way than Gen X and Y were. Gen X and Y, we were just living in the world the Boomers set up for us. Millennials are charting a different path. It could lead to disaster--certainly the financial signs seem troubling--but you know, I have to say they wield a certain amount of power that Gen X and Y do not. I think it's arrogant for us Gen Y/Gen X types to underestimate Millennials. As much as I want to play the crotchety old man card at times, I really believe they will play a much bigger part in shaping the next 20 years than Gen X or Y ever will (for better or for worse)--or have done so far in the last 10-15 years. I don't put much stock in "Well I KNOW a 20 year old and if he/she is any indication, I think the future is screwed..." type stories, because those have been around for hundreds of years.

And that's what I mean by Gen Y largely being irrelevant. If we don't have as much financial power as the Boomers and aren't shaping the future as much as the Millennials, I really don't see how much actual power our generation really has. I realize I'm speaking almost in political terms here, but we're like a country that is neither a superpower (Boomers) nor an up and coming belligerent country which holds a certain amount of international sway because they do one thing MUCH better than everyone else (Millennials). If Gen X is more like the UK (more of a strong follower than a superpower) then Gen Y is kinda like...Sweden or something. A nice country and all but completely irrelevant on the world stage. Sort of self-sufficient in some ways, but also completely dependent on stronger nations in others. I mean, no offense to Sweden. It's probably a nicer place to live than many countries. But it's just kinda there. If shit ever goes down internationally, don't expect a country like Sweden to have any kind of political power. That's Gen Y, imo.

At any rate, this is all just mumbo jumbo ruminating. We take care of ourselves on an individual level and let the social theorists sort out the results. I was just a little stymied trying to square people born in the early 80s to those born after 1990, when I looked up the term "Millennials." It just seems like, because of the internet, there is a significant generational schism during the late 80s between people who have now grown up to practically "live" online to those who only "use" the internet. And to me that signals a very different set of lifestyles and priorities, enough to categorize a generational divide sometime around 1990.

EDIT: Some people might have saw a significantly different post earlier here. Yes, I have rewritten this post several times. I may even rewrite it again. I've changed my mind a couple of times about some things over the past hour.

[llj]

I think by most definitions I am considered a millenial...cue the boos!

As far as the age range of millenials goes, it definitely seems to be different depending on who is defining it. The definition that immediately popped up on Google, "a person reaching young adulthood around the year 2000", sounds good but isn't particularly descriptive. It gets pretty confusing trying to figure out the differences between Generation Y and millenials. On top of that, the "Generation C" concept seems to overlap multiple groups.

I am working from the thesis that the internet is the biggest addition to our day to day lives since the automobile. With that in mind, which generation has lived with online access for the majority of their lives? I would say those born after 1990, and they would have been at oldest 7 or 8 when the internet started to become something of a household utility in developed countries. People born in the early 80s, they only really started living online in their late teens. Before that, computers only functioned as a game machine or word processor for the everyday person.

This is why I would propose sociologists to consider an official generational divide between those born before 1990 and those after. The younger a person was exposed to a life where online access was a part of day to day life, the more they would consider it as a necessity rather than a luxury.