Gen Y begins in 1978 

Gen Y definitely begins in 1978. A previous author was right when she mentioned that people born in that era (1978-1984) are pretty in between, the same way people born in the early 1960s are between the classic generation X and the classic baby boom.

I think there is a difference between early Generation Yers (1978-1984) and late Generation Yers (1985-1994) but I don't think people born after about 1993 or 1994 can be included in Generation Y. Part of being Gen Y is being a child of a baby boomer. My parents were born in 1955 and I was born in 1990. The baby boomers are a pretty unified generation, and even my parents consider themselves to be part of a different generation than people born in the 1940s. My parents are children of the '70s, Watergate era, and came of age as adults during the late 1970s and early 1980s yuppie/disco era. Meanwhile, someone born in 1946 remembers the conformity of the 1960s and was in high school as opposed to grade school during the JFK assassination, and could have been drafted for Vietnam. They were old enough to take part in the antiwar protests or go to Woodstock. After about 1954 the boomers were children of the '70s, while before they were children of the '60s.

The same distinction exists between early and late Y. Early Y is a transitional group between Generation X and Generation Y, and their coming-of-age was characterized by alot of change (PCs, etc.) Also, their parents included more Vietnam vets and protestors, and hippies, while most people my age have parents whose adolescent preoccupations were disco and Led Zeppelin-type rock, Watergate and the oil crisis.

I really don't think most people in Gen X would be too comfortable with people who were little kids in the '80s being in their generation. Being an adolescent in the 1980s is a Generation X requirement.