What is the age range of Millennials, anyway?

[usamimi]

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.

Yeah, that would make way more sense to me.

[DKop]

I thought of myself as a Gen Y guy since I was born in 86. However, it seems that I somehow fall in the category of the Millennials, which in a way kinda ticks me off . To people who identify themselves as a Millennial is someone I thought was born past 1995 or so. Plus if I am labeled as a Millennial, why do I feel so distant from them? I work with my local church youth group and granted, I get along with them, but then I see them do things that I have no clue what they are talking about or obsessed with. I guess that's part of getting old, and you know what, I am proud of that!

Teens today are way different than what it was like for me 16 years ago when I entered the new millennium because things have changed so much. I'm 30 now, and I thought people in their 30s were in the Gen X/Y crowd, unless Gen Y is just now self labeled as Millennials. I guess for me its based on popular opinion, which would that make it a solid fact at that point? And what the heck is with this Gen C crap? "C" is for connected? You gotta be kidding me. Technology in some aspects has made my generation somewhat more disconnected on a face to face level. Now right about here, I am going to stop myself from ranting any further about that, because I don't have the time to ramble on my thoughts on how sticking a phone in your face constantly makes you a better or more "connected" person. There goes my age showing again.

[yusaku]

I am 42 going on 43 in September. Born in 1973, I am either the first of Generation X or the very last of the Baby Boomers. I have been on my job long enough to do an early retirement, but I will get a fraction of what the Boomers will get because they will get social security benefits along with four times the the retirement package. I will have to work the day I retire should I try to retire early. I may have to do that due to eye surgery I had last month. I hope the surgery fixes my previous vision issue otherwise the DOT, Deparment of Transportaion, will not let me work. I digress.

As a member of GenX we will have to fight for relevance. I define the Gen X as the last of the traditionalists. We went to work, college, or the military soon after high school. We are the last of the believers in the old ways. Gen X did what our parents did and did got a much lower return on our investments. We were also the part of the first group to be betrayed by the Boomers in charge of the government, education, and industry.

Baby Boomers bought into globalism, predatory capitalism, and feminism. We just had the company "Carrier", a air conditioning and heating company, announce they are moving the plant to Mexico last month.

http://youtu.be/M3-s72NToTw

The company is mostly getting income from US GOVERNMENT business contracts. These Boomers are still giving our good jobs away. When we want an education we have to take EXPENSIVE student loans for jobs that the Boomers got without a degree. The Boomers got the the houses from the FHA when the houses were cheaper and wages were a lot higher. Us Gen Xers get that Adjustable rate mortgage from hell in an overpriced housing market. I rent. The onslaught of feminism has brought the marriage rate of men 20 to 34 years of age from 70% in 1965 to 20% in 2013! That is absolutely abysmal reduction in marriage. It is even hard to find a woman date long term. Here are some videos on those topics:

http://youtu.be/b8C7wofoDQ4

http://youtu.be/jyJ7lRur43o

We of Gen X must fight for relevance. The only comfort I have as a Gen XXer is that we be the first get to the last of the crumbs from the table where the Baby Boomers had eaten. We as Gen X will work harder, smarter, and longer to get what our parents got. We are going to have to work together as a group, pool resources in our communities, and use our collective intelligence to defeat these government, industrial, and financial juggernauts that milking our future dry.

Anyone got any ideas?

[DKop]

So.... Gen Y is Fubar'd is what your saying?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vau2hG22DoQ

In terms marriage, I am currently in the longest relationship with someone that I have ever been with, which has been going on for a year and a half now. It has taken me 30 years (ok really 17 in hindsight if you taken in when puberty started for me) to find a really neat gal that I have now. It's totally fate that I found someone that is in the same boat that I was in when we meet: we both never had had a serious relationship before, were both virgins, and were both nerds. Plus to boot, she's a knockout to me as a person on the outside and inside. For both of us, we were never had luck finding anyone before, since I am really her first boyfriend/and love and it was hard for me to go out with people, and if I did they mostly never lasted more than one date (and I had been on a couple of bad dates let me tell you). I can say that for Valentines Day I got her a Pokemon promise ring, and that is a way of saying " I am too broke right now to get you an engagement ring, but that'll come next, hope that's not a problem." Don't worry, she understands my predicament. So the video about people who are "good" guys and girls is pretty true, because it seems that the act of sleeping around to find someone is rampant and everywhere, which can hurt a persons intimacy levels with another person over time.

I didn't realize that the marriage percentage for that range was that low now, and that just sucks. I feel for you yusaku, hopefully that will change for the better. I am currently a college student because it seems the only way to make a decent wage is to have that 2 or 4 year diploma saying your certified by getting in debt for it. I honestly don't think I will ever retire at this point, and if I did, what is there to retire on? There needs to be a better system in place in the next 30 years otherwise thanks for FUBAR'ing everything up Boomers!!!

[yusaku]

I think Gen Y has potential to recover, but I recommend that you take out no more than twenty thousand in student loans. My best recommendation is never take out student loans because the IRS is now in charge of collections. They have started using the US Marshall as debt collectors.

http://youtu.be/S5CQcQtgygY

I would spend my life delivering pizzas before taking out any of the loans I took out. The government has finally shown their true face. There is even talk of restricting passports for student loan debt.

Now concerning dating, I do not want my woman to suffer and I got to get some gains. Right now my life is a bit of a mess right now because of health issues. I got too much weight on me and I just had eye surgery. Getting older taxes your body and employment is competitive. I was going to work at factory but their insurance rejected me because of my weight. I may end up on disability because of vision problems with one eye. I just had eye surgery last month and been off work for just over a month. It really has been hard and my pay is reduced when on sick leave. The bank fines and rent late fees really hurt me now. I do have some ideas to keep me solvent and working.

Obamacare allows me to keep my group insurance at the same price even when I change jobs. So my next job will not have to put me on their health insurance; that will give me some huge leverage. Also, I get a severance of four months salary. If I can wait until I am vested next year I can get even more. I got disability insurance to pay me until then. However, sitting at home has been a lot harder on me than I thought.

I am going back to grad school or community college because sitting at home is making me a little crazy. I have not taken sick leave or missed a day of work in work in ten years. I am not nearly as productive at home when compared to what I can do at work. Getting things I want to do would be lot easier if I was accountable to some one. My plan was to use the months of recovery to enjoy my hobbies of cello, drawing, exercise, and electronics. It has been slow going because I do not have an instructor or supervisor to coordinate my activities. I surprised how hard time and project management can be without other people. It is surprising how much l rely on people to tell me what to do. I am definitely getting an instructor. Plus last time I was in grad school those student loan refunds were really sweet. I definitely may have to go back!

I plan to start dating in this time next year. I got to smooth out my situation first. I suggest you guys get a court wedding and do the real wedding later. Time is too short and too precious.

[DKop]

Heh, my loan debt is higher than 20 grand right now, and I am so close to finishing that I'm gonna stick it out for another year to get my degree.

I have given the court wedding some thought, but both my parents and my girlfriends want a traditional one to happen, which means I need to secure a job to pay for what I have to once im out of school. The court idea will be the go-to idea if something comes up that I will be out of the country for a long period and I don't wanna leave her behind in the states.

As much as people wanna bash on Obamacare, I know it serves its purpose for people who really need it. I know a handful of doctors that I can tell my symptoms too without having to pay out of pocket to go to a urgent care center to get 20 dollars worth of anti-biotics. But I don't get sick a lot so to pay what I need to get at a doctors office once in a while is cheaper for me to use than to pay 200 a month for insurance I don't use most times out of the year. According to Obamacare, the lowest prices for me was like $215 or so, which is crazy.

[yusaku]

Dkop that is a plan that I think will work! Just do not change it. However, even Dr. Phil got married when he did not have a job. I would plan the wedding right after graduation regardless of your employment status.

[labsenpai]

Waldenbooks = GEN X
Borders = GEN Y
Amazon = GEN 2000

[Akage]

The onslaught of feminism has brought the marriage rate of men 20 to 34 years of age from 70% in 1965 to 20% in 2013!

Even though this is probably click bait, I'm going to call BS on the bolded part. Feminism provided women with the ability to earn a living where they would not be dependent on a man. Instead of having to deal with a man who is immature, has unrealistic expectations of their spouse or even worse, is abusive in any way, a woman doesn't have to stay in that sort of relationship out of survival the way that her mother and grandmothers had to before her. It did not, however, change our gender roles; Women today are still expected to cook, clean and raise their children in addition to working full time. From personal experience, I believe the biggest detriment to those men who want to get married is themselves. Many men have unrealistic expectations in what they expect from a partner. Many feel that they 'deserve' to marry a supermodel, or at very least, a model, even if they are physically unattractive and have no source of income. They often become disillusioned when the women they want seek men who are loaded and/or good looking, often coping by some sort of escapism and refuse to date at all. This doesn't include all those men who don't want to get married because they feel that a wife and children would cramp their bachelor style.

The women I know who are in their thirties and are married are all in relationships where they are pulling more than their fair share of the weight. They work 40+ hours a week and come home still needing to cook dinner and care for their children. Their husbands are usually crashed out in front of the computer or TV because they're 'tired' from working all day. The women I know who are in their thirties and single are single because they've been in these sorts of relationships (or ones that were abusive) during their 20s. They prefer to have the freedom to do what they want to do after work instead of having to put up with a partner who doesn't want to help out. Yes, there are relationships where both husband and wife continue to work in the house after work or ones where the husband does the domestic chores while the wife relaxes, but comparatively, these are the outlier and not the norm.

[usamimi]

I agree with Akage. Also that really has nothing to do with the topic of this thread?