As a child I also thought:
Adults were more mature than children.
Taxes would be easy to do or easily explained.
College would teach me everything I needed to know for the “real world.”
Wrong. All wrong. Maybe that’s a bit dramatic.
What thoughts panned out to be false from your childhood?
Pizza, Netflix, and Happiness. Mei.
GUM | Growing Up Millennial 
Haha, so true! I rant about this all the time. Got a Masters Degree and military experience and at 27 I got my first civilian job making $33,000 a year after applying to 110 jobs. Because, obviously, I’d rather be playing Xbox in my parents basement and have no interest in putting in the effort ya know.
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Exactly, haha. I don’t think many understand the age range for millennials. They think our generation is comprised of 20somethings. In actuality, we are as old as 35 (possibly 40) and (arguably) as young as 15.
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Well, I would argue that if you remember Raegan and you’re old enough to have joined the military before 9/11 you’re not a millenial. Completely different experiences. If you’re 35 you remember Raegan and you were out of highschool during 9/11, and you should have been out of school alltogether well before the recession. The recession I would argue is a major life event for millineals coming out of school, so I’d say flexibly somewhere around 1983 to 1999. If you are 40 you were born in 1975 you graduated highschool in 1993, got a job in the roaring economy of the 90s and probably danced at your prom to Janet Jackson (2 #1 hits in 1993) definitely definitely not a millenial. You’d be around for the breakthrough of grunge and the heyday of Curt Kobain and you grew up without the internet until college (maybe) which is text book gen X; which I’d say would be born somewhere from 1965 to 1982.
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Coming out of school I mean either highschool or college or at least seeing your older siblings/cousins experience it.
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It seems as though the recession had a strong impact on those that would currently be around the age at which one would buy a home (30s). With that being said, given the many studies that show a decline in millennials buying homes (what is probably an irrelevant observation for those in their 20s), this could easily apply to those born as early as 1979. Neil & Strauss seem to have coined the term based on parenting styles. However, this doesn’t appear to be the most effective determining factor. Technology would be better: specifically the way it has affected social interactions (i.e. social media) and other forms of entertainment (i.e. television).
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Y Millennials are usually defined as early 1980s to mid 1990s, never earlier than 1980, almost never later than 2000. Z Millennials are late 90s or early 2000s onward. The oldest a millennial can possibly be is around 35, and they’re in the gray area between generational borders. A 35 year old shares more in common with Gen X than with Z millennials.
The first meme in this post is pure Gen X, no millennial can relate to that. Millennials graduate(d) into an economy where every half-decent job requires a 4 year degree, employers are super picky, and 9-to-5s are scarce. They are more likely stuck in retail, working freelance in the gig or sharing economy, or have given up and float in and out of the job market.
Owning a house is something few millennials can afford. That requires good credit and a big downpayment, which is tough to achieve with $26,000 average in college debt, along with whatever other debt they may have. The average millennial rents their apartment, forget houses. That said, this is a region where it’s rare to find a house for under $400,000, so renting is the only choice that most people of all age ranges have.
The other huge identifier besides 9/11 and the Great Recession is the status of the internet. Gen X grew up before the internet, Gen Y grew up as it grew up, and Z grows up with it. Y millennials were the only group to have a childhood with and without the internet.
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Actually the only generation that can be accurately defined are baby boomers (1946-1964). Z millennials would imply that the individual is born along the borderlines of Generation Y (millennials) and Generation Z. You are correct in stating that the oldest a millennial may be is 35. However Generation Y (non-millennials) may be as old as 40 (arguably the MTV generation that takes on traits associated with Generation X and Y). A 35 year old can easily share similarities with Generation X and Y. Z would clearly be a bit of a stretch. Based on the way the media portrayed college, it is reasonable to say that when many members of Generation Y were children (meaning before the age of 13) they probably did believe that a degree was all they needed. You are correct in your statement about the job force that millennials entered into post graduation AS ADULTS. However, that doesn’t mean that AS CHILDREN that belief was not instilled. As a matter of fact, considering the experience that our parents and grandparents had in regard to school and work, that would make sense. Given much of the information used to determine the age range I would argue 1979-1999. As for the rest of your statement, I concur. I think that technological growth is the key distinguishing trait of a millennial experience.
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