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Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996, meaning that today, they are between the ages of 25 and 40. Let’s talk quickly about some things that happened at a pivotal time in life for those born between 1981 and 1996. For starters, we saw the first smartphone in 1992, at which point some millennials were entering those formative middle school years, and some were not yet even born. We saw the Y2K hysteria – remember that when we thought the Internet would essentially destroy us? On a very dark note, some millennials witnessed the 911 attacks. Some millennials were barely pre-teens when it occurred, and some were in high school. They were old enough to have adults tell them what happened and young enough for it to play a large role in their emotional development. There are some experiences like these that most millennials of all ages connect to. But, there is still a pretty big gap – in terms of time, and cultural shifts – between old and young millennials.
Today an older millennial is closer to a mid-life crisis than not. While a younger one may just be wrapping up college, since taking some gap years to “find one’s self” has become so popular. Older millennials may have a few kids, while younger ones might reject any old philosophies that say having kids is “what we’re here to do.” In some ways we’re the same, but in others, from another planet. Here are major differences between old and young millennials.
Young millennials always had a smartphone
I’m right there in the middle. I’m 32. I got a cell phone in high school, but not a smartphone until college. Young millennials don’t remember an age without smartphones. The moment they became curious about the world – like about sex and drugs and just about everything – they also had every way possible to learn about it. Those curious teen years came along for young millennials, and they had plenty of resources at their fingertips to look things up, whether their parents wanted them to, or not. On the flip side, their parents could keep track of them through the GPS trackers in their smartphones, so that was a security plus. Young millennials never had to stop talking to their friends. They had text and FB message and all of that.
