You’ll laugh at these young people trying to define their own generation — and no one can agree!

Millennials’ definition as a generation is fuzzy even in the minds of their parents and teachers, who ask me, “What exactly makes them a millennial?” Only recently did the Pew Research Institute finally designate the years in which members of the Millennial Generation were born — between 1981 and 1996. Today [in 2018] they are adults-in-progress, age 22 to 37.

But wait! A year ago the age cutoff for Millennials defined by Pew was 1998. What made the researchers think a new generation was born a year earlier? Was it “Something About the Way You Look Tonight?” (Elton John’s smash hit in 1997) No. As Pew admitted to me, “For now, the end year is simply based on survey convenience.”

“Don’t call me a Millennial, it’s a put-down,” I’m often told by millennials over 30 who have jump-started careers and don’t want to be associated with younger slackers.

Pew Research Institute explains, “The youngest and oldest within a generation may feel more in common with bordering generations than the one to which they were born.”

“I don’t think our generation can really be defined by these age cutoffs,” a 24-year-old employed college graduate told me. “I feel totally in sync with the high school kids who are leading the movement against school gun violence. I also feel in sync with those in their late thirties who were at the forefront of developing new technology. As a generation that rejects labels, it feels weird to be grouped by one age.”

Share your thoughts on what it means to be a millennial: ow.ly/3kzt30kN5ul