<P> Millennials have benefited the least from the economic recovery following the Great Recession, as average incomes for this generation have fallen at twice the general adult population's total drop and are likely to be on a path toward lower incomes for at least another decade . A Bloomberg L.P. article wrote that "Three and a half years after the worst recession since the Great Depression, the earnings and employment gap between those in the under - 35 population and their parents and grandparents threatens to unravel the American dream of each generation doing better than the last . The nation's younger workers have benefited least from an economic recovery that has been the most uneven in recent history ." </P> <P> In 2014, millennials were entering an increasingly multi-generational workplace . Even though research has shown that millennials are joining the workforce during a tough economic time they still have remained optimistic, as shown when about nine out of ten millennials surveyed by the Pew Research Center said that they currently have enough money or that they will eventually reach their long - term financial goals . </P> <P> American sociologist Kathleen Shaputis labeled millennials as the Boomerang Generation or Peter Pan generation, because of the members' perceived tendency for delaying some rites of passage into adulthood for longer periods than most generations before them . These labels were also a reference to a trend toward members living with their parents for longer periods than previous generations . Kimberly Palmer regards the high cost of housing and higher education, and the relative affluence of older generations, as among the factors driving the trend . Questions regarding a clear definition of what it means to be an adult also impacts a debate about delayed transitions into adulthood and the emergence of a new life stage, Emerging Adulthood . A 2012 study by professors at Brigham Young University found that college students were more likely to define "adult" based on certain personal abilities and characteristics rather than more traditional "rite of passage" events . Larry Nelson noted that "In prior generations, you get married and you start a career and you do that immediately . What young people today are seeing is that approach has led to divorces, to people unhappy with their careers...The majority want to get married (...) they just want to do it right the first time, the same thing with their careers ." Their expectations have had a dampening effect on millennials' rate of marriage . </P> <P> A 2013 joint study by sociologists at the University of Virginia and Harvard University found that the decline and disappearance of stable full - time jobs with health insurance and pensions for people who lack a college degree has had profound effects on working - class Americans, who now are less likely to marry and have children within marriage than those with college degrees . Data from a 2014 study of U.S. millennials revealed over 56% of this cohort considers themselves as part of the working class, with only approximately 35% considering themselves as part of the middle class; this class identity is the lowest polling of any generation . </P>

When do you have to be born to be a millenial