The final word on who's considered a millennial has been issued, and it comes courtesy of the Pew Research Center. USA Today reports the long-standing murkiness surrounding that generation's cutoff dates was cleared up Thursday by the nonprofit think tank, which, as the New York Times puts it, "tried to impose some order on the chaos." Pew's ruling: that individuals born between the years 1981 and 1996—meaning those who are currently between the ages of 22 and 37— are officially deemed members of the cohort sandwiched between Generation X and what's often referred to as Gen Z. (Pew prefers "post-millennials until a common term takes hold.")
The beginning and end points for millennials, as well as for other generations, has shifted over time. Authors Neil Howe and William Strauss, who are given credit for coming up with the term "millennials" in their 1991 book Generations, originally had individuals in this demographic as being born between 1982 and 2000; subsequent deviations had the millennial generation starting as early as 1978 and ending as early as 1994. Pew chief Michael Dimock acknowledges nailing down these timelines isn't an "exact science"—and that even this official designation could change yet again. "Perhaps, as more data are collected over the years, a clear, singular delineation will emerge," he writes. "We remain open to recalibrating if that occurs." (More millennials stories.)
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