Rating Millennial start dates

[Ghost]

This includes every start date that has ever been proposed on this website.

1976: 1/10
These guys started elementary school after Reagan's victory (arguably the start of 3T), but other than that, there isn't really a lot that can be written down here.

1977: 1/10
Probably among the first to have celebrities that exhibit "hero" characteristics (like Gerard Way and John Cena), but that can apply to another birthyear.

1978: 3/10
I was actually a bit surprised that this was ranked that high. They were among the first to not really remember a time of stagflation, the first to graduate high school after the release of Windows 95 (the "dawn" of the Internet becoming popular, meaning they were probably the first to have some exposure to it in their K-12 education), and probably were among the first to be negatively impacted by the Great Recession (this can apply to other birthyears, but I'm only going by an article that said the average homebuyer was 30 in 2008)

The article: https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists...-2001-2010

1979: 0/10
There is really nothing that makes 1979 a good starting date (or even a good ending date). This is easily the worst starting date on this list, and the first 0 I gave.

1980: 2/10
These guys are probably the first to not really have a likely chance of remembering Morning in America, but that is really it.

1981: 8/10
http://generational-theory.com/forum/thread-19635.html
Although I do like this start date and thought it was the best starting date in the past, I think there's a better one.

1982: 10/10
I think this starting date makes the most sense for Millennials. They were the first to be born after AIDS became a crisis, the first to be born after the "Baby on Board" stickers became popular, probably among the first to not feel that impacted by Reagan and Bush 41's presidencies, and the first to graduate in a year that starts with a 2 (which is why they got their name). This is also the start date proposed by Strauss and Howe.

1983: 7/10
This starting date isn't the best, but I can still see it work. They were the first to be born after the end of stagflation, among the first to have an unlikely chance of remembering Black Monday, and were the first to graduate high school after the actual start of the new millennium.

1984: 2/10
Other than being the first to graduate after 9/11, there is really not much else I can think of. Likely a controversial opinion, but I think this is a weaker start date than what most people think.

1985: 3/10
This is simply too late for a start date, but I think it has more merit than a 1984 one. They were the first to be born after Morning in America (the start of "absolute 3T"), among the first to have an unlikely chance of remembering the Berlin Wall falling, the first to start high school after the Columbine shooting, and the first to graduate high school after the Iraq invasion.

[Eric the Green]

I agree with 1982, although I used 1984 in my own 1997 book. And I think 15 years is too short for a generation, except maybe during the civil war anomaly. I think 2003 is the most-likely start date for Gen Z.

[beechnut79]

Four years later Randy Travis longed to be connected to 1982.

[Cocoa_Puff]

(12-28-2021, 05:07 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: I agree with 1982, although I used 1984 in my own 1997 book. And I think 15 years is too short for a generation, except maybe during the civil war anomaly. I think 2003 is the most-likely start date for Gen Z.

I totally agree. 15 years is too short for a generation. Millennials are likely 1982-2002, give or take.

[pbrower2a]

(12-28-2021, 02:22 PM)Ghost Wrote: This includes every start date that has ever been proposed on this website.

1976: 1/10
These guys started elementary school after Reagan's victory (arguably the start of 3T), but other than that, there isn't really a lot that can be written down here.

I can't see Reagan having forced any basic change that will stick even fifty years . His big economic change was to stop inflation with policies that mandated that young adults participate fully in creating the material basis for prosperity while prospering little. Inflation comes to an end when productivity rises and consumption doesn't. Do you remember all those college graduates who worked in retain or fast food? I was one of them, and I hated it. This was the time of two-tier wage systems. Late-wave Boomers and X were expected to pretend that such was the most wonderful economics possible... and always remember to show that big, broad, theatrical "Happy to Serve You " smile.    

Quote:1977: 1/10
Probably among the first to have celebrities that exhibit "hero" characteristics (like Gerard Way and John Cena), but that can apply to another birthyear.

Maybe the Civic/Hero character starts to appear, but not enough. 

Quote:1978: 3/10
I was actually a bit surprised that this was ranked that high. They were among the first to not really remember a time of stagflation, the first to graduate high school after the release of Windows 95 (the "dawn" of the Internet becoming popular, meaning they were probably the first to have some exposure to it in their K-12 education), and probably were among the first to be negatively impacted by the Great Recession (this can apply to other birthyears, but I'm only going by an article that said the average homebuyer was 30 in 2008)

The article: https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists...-2001-2010

[/url]
The Internet changed much in life, but I am not going to ascribe great change to any Windows release (3.1, 95, 98. Me, 7, 8, or 10). People are doing much that they used to do, like reading and communicating, only with a different device. The Internet and PC do not change life as much as did the electric light, automobile, motion picture, radio, or television. Heck, the Pill did more to change people's sex lives tha the Internet could ever do.

Quote:1979: 0/10
There is really nothing that makes 1979 a good starting date (or even a good ending date). This is easily the worst starting date on this list, and the first 0 I gave.

If 1979 is to be relevant it will be because of some political figure who shows a very Hero-Civic style in office much as Obama did with the Reactive-Nomad style. Obama is definitely not a Boomer; he oddly recalls the Mature Reactive type despite being young for a President. Such could happen, but there is no reason to predict this. 

Quote:1980: 2/10
These guys are probably the first to not really have a likely chance of remembering Morning in America, but that is really it.

They still remember the last phase of the Boom Awakening -- the fundamentalist-evangelical part, and most are likely to have despised it.

Quote:1981: 8/10
[url=http://generational-theory.com/forum/thread-19635.html]http://generational-theory.com/forum/thread-19635.html
Although I do like this start date and thought it was the best starting date in the past, I think there's a better one.

Probably the cusp. It could go either way. 

Quote:1982: 10/10
I think this starting date makes the most sense for Millennials. They were the first to be born after AIDS became a crisis, the first to be born after the "Baby on Board" stickers became popular, probably among the first to not feel that impacted by Reagan and Bush 41's presidencies, and the first to graduate in a year that starts with a 2 (which is why they got their name). This is also the start date proposed by Strauss and Howe.

Also the last birth-year to be legal adults (except for drinking) at the time of the 9/11 attack. This is so far the Howe-Strauss canon. 

Quote:1983: 7/10
This starting date isn't the best, but I can still see it work. They were the first to be born after the end of stagflation, among the first to have an unlikely chance of remembering Black Monday, and were the first to graduate high school after the actual start of the new millennium.

The first big event of the new millennium is the 9/11 attack. They are twenty-five at the time of the Financial Crisis of 2008, so they had little to lose from the worst economic meltdown in eighty years.  

Quote:1984: 2/10
Other than being the first to graduate after 9/11, there is really not much else I can think of. Likely a controversial opinion, but I think this is a weaker start date than what most people think.

Unless you are a fan of the Detroit Tigers, the only remarkable thing about 1984 is a book title. 

Quote:1985: 3/10

Quote:This is simply too late for a start date, but I think it has more merit than a 1984 one. They were the first to be born after Morning in America (the start of "absolute 3T"), among the first to have an unlikely chance of remembering the Berlin Wall falling, the first to start high school after the Columbine shooting, and the first to graduate high school after the Iraq invasion.

Absolutely no memory of the Cold War and especially its end.

[David Horn]

(12-28-2021, 05:07 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: I agree with 1982, although I used 1984 in my own 1997 book. And I think 15 years is too short for a generation, except maybe during the civil war anomaly. I think 2003 is the most-likely start date for Gen Z.

Regarding the ACW anomoly: the lengh of the Transcendental generation has always been suspect in my book.  After all, this was the first era in human history that changed paradigms.  Yes, we were once hunter-gatherers, but we also consider that prehistory.  The arrival of industry made more significant changes on the world as a whole than anything in the prior 1000 years, if not longer. An anomoly should be expected, but may be more accurately described as a realignment.