I’ll have to disagree with 1981 as being the starting year for the Millenial Generation. Gen Y really begins in either 1977 or ’78, and here’s why:

1. An online chart proves that the “echo boom” period REALLY began in 1977 with 3.3 million babies born compared to 3.14m in ’76 (difference = 160,000). The annual birthrate leveled off in ’95.

2. Studies show very similar attitudes between those born in the late ’70s and the ’80s (people who entered this world between ’78 and ’90 voted 66 – 32 for Obama).

3. Those born ’77 to ’95 either just came of age or just entered this world when the internet exploded in popularity in ’95.

4. Generations are getting a lot shorter due to the acceleration of technological and cultural change, which is why Gen X ends in either ’76 or the year after that.