
Imprints move through the life cycle of individuals, making more significant impressions on youth when they are forming their core values. Changes cannot be fully understood for some time, usually around the time the unique characteristics of the next generation become recognized. Economic, political, and social background influences the culture and creates a lasting impact. Like every other generation, Millennials display generalized and unique traits. Sources, though, are inconsistent, with as many as 21 different birth spans referenced. We will use the birth years of 1980 to 1999 here to define the Millennial cohort.

Generational cohorts are just one way to categorize a group of people with similarities-in this case, the era in which individuals were born and when they came of age. This report provides a summary of the research done on the Millennial generation since 2009.
