This expression first appeared in August 1993, in the editorial of ‘The Ad Age’, a magazine from the world of marketing and media. It described the teenagers of the day, whom they considered to be separate from “Generation X”.
1982 is generally considered the birth year of this generation but there are differences between countries concerning this date and term. For example, inChina, Generation Y does not exist because the rapid change in that country since 1970 has resulted in the classification of generations by decade. While in most of the developed world, a person born in 1985 and a person born in 1990 are considered part of the same generation, in China, those born in the 70s are called the “post-70s” generation, those born in the 80s the “post-80s” generation, and those born in the 90s the “post-90s” generation.
InAustralia, there is much debate over the dates of Generation Y – that is, when “Gen Y” began, and the “cut-off” period. It is generally accepted that the first “Gen Y” members were born in 1982. Though some sources use the date range 1982–1995 for the generation, many, including the Australian Bureau of Statistics, use 1982–2000.
In Canada, 1982 is generally thought to be the starting birth year of Generation Y, ending somewhere between the mid-1990s and 2000 – or sometimes even as late as 2004.
If you would like to know more about this generation, click on this link.
