The generation gap explained (again)

[Scooter]

[Guinevere]

Hahahahahahaha.


Signed, a work hard, play hard, GenXer

[RayThom]

So where do the "Millennials" fit into all of this? Are they just rebranded Gen-Y'ers?

[Scooter]

The term Millennials generally refers to the generation of people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. Perhaps the most commonly used birth range for this group is 1982-2000. The Millennial Generation is also known as Generation Y, because it comes after Generation X — those people between the early 1960s and the 1980s. It has also been called the Peter Pan or Boomerang Generation because of the propensity of some to move back in with their parents, perhaps due to economic constraints, and a growing tendency to delay some of the typical adulthood rites of passage like marriage or starting a career.

[oldr_n_wsr]

My kids are millenials, born in 1985 and 1989.

[Burning Petard]

So my generation is 'the greatest generation'? That can only be if your standards are very low.

snailgate

[Bicycle Bill]

So my generation is 'the greatest generation'? That can only be if your standards are very low.

snailgate

They said "your generation", not you personally.

-"BB"-

[datsunaholic]

By most accounts that's not correct. The "Greatest Generation" is usually those that were born at or just before WWI (say, 1915ish) until around 1928-1930. Basically it's considered to be the generation that grew up during the depression and fought in WWII (or contributed on the homefront- Rosie the Riveter, etc).

The Generation between, around 1925-1946 is considered the "Silent" generation. It usually means those who were too young to have served in WWII but may have served in Korea, and then Vietnam. But early Baby Boomers were also drafted into Vietnam.

The lines are blurred, though. The Baby Boom is one of the few with a distinct start date- 1946. That's because it essentially started 9 months after the soldiers came home from WWII. The end date is unclear, though 1961-1965 seems to be a typical end and start to Generation X. Gen X ran into the Mid to late 70s, usually somewhere between 1977-1980. Gen Y has its start date there, but "Millenials" generally refers to those who became adults (18 years old) starting in 2000, which has a hard date of being born in 1982 or later. If you use 21 as the age @ 2000, then it pushes it to 1979, hence the blurriness.

The "generations" are defined mostly by a way of thinking, but you can usually map out your family's true generations going back 3-4 generations before things get blurred one way or the other. For example:

The current generation in my family- basically my sibling's children- runs from 1997-2002. If you include my cousin's children it's 1997-2015, and that might not be it.

My generation (me and my siblings) is 1974-1982, but if you include cousins it's 1971-1982. Spouses push that back into the late 60s

My parent's generation is 1942-1947- gapping right over the Baby boom line, and that includes my Aunts and Uncles, who all fell in between my parents ages. Oddly enough my Dad and both my uncles were born DURING WWII and my Mom and my sole Aunt were born after. Both my Parents had cousins born as late as the 1960s, though.

My Grandparents were born between 1916 and 1924, but their siblings were born between 1911 and 1933.

[Scooter]

You do recognize that it was a joke, right? Historical accuracy not being remotely the point.