Millennials Millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the generational demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. There are no precise dates for when this cohort starts or ends; demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years. Millennials are sometimes referred to as "echo boomers" due to a major surge in birth rates in the 1980s and 1990s, and because millennials are often the children of the baby boomers. Although millennial characteristics vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions,
Generation X self-identify as boomers, and that they are culturally distinct from boomers in terms of shared historical experiences. Howe says that while many demographers use 1965 as a start date for Generation X, this is a statement about fertility in the population (birth-rates which began declining in 1957, declined more sharply following 1964) and fails to take into consideration the shared history and cultural identity of the individuals. Strauss and Howe define Generation X as those born between 1961 and 1981. Many researchers and demographers continue to use dates which correspond to the strict fertility-patterns in the population, which results in