Oxford Living Dictionaries describes a millennial as " a person reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century . " Pew Research Center has observed that " Because generations are analytical constructs , it takes time for popular and expert consensus to develop as to the precise boundaries that demarcate one generation from another . " The Pew Research Center defines millennials as born from 1981 to 1996 , choosing these dates for " key political , economic and social factors " , including the September 11th terrorist attacks , the Great Recession , and the Internet explosion . Pew indicated they would remain open to date recalibration . Many major media outlets have cited Pew 's definition for the date range of millennials , including '' Time '' magazine , '' The Washington Post '' , and '' Reuters ''
September 11th terrorist attacks
September 11 attacks
Millennials