<P> Millennials (also known as Generation Y) are the demographic cohort following Generation X . 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 . </P> <P> 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 . The 20th - century trend toward smaller families in developed countries continued, however, so the relative impact of the "baby boom echo" was generally less pronounced than the post--World War II baby boom . </P> <P> Although Millennial characteristics vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions, the generation is generally marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies . In most parts of the world, their upbringing was marked by an increase in a liberal approach to politics and economics; the effects of this environment are disputed . The Great Recession has had a major impact on this generation because it has caused historically high levels of unemployment among young people, and has led to speculation about possible long - term economic and social damage to this generation . </P> <P> Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe are widely credited with naming the Millennials . They coined the term in 1987, around the time children born in 1982 were entering preschool, and the media were first identifying their prospective link to the new millennium as the high school graduating class of 2000 . They wrote about the cohort in their books Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 (1991) and Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation (2000). </P>

When would an 18 year old be born