University of Mississippi

Millennium Generation 

The Millennium Generation “will redefine society in the 21

st

 century just as baby 

boomers shaped social, political and economic changes in the last half of the 20

th

 century” 

predicted Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute in Rhinebeck, New York. 

Census Bureau statistics from 1998 showed that the generation of children younger than 18 was 

70.2 million, surpassing the previous high of 69.9 million set in 1966. “And unlike the baby 

boom that began in 1946, this one shows no sign of ending.”

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Also unlike the baby boom triggered by an increase in births after World War II, the 

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Millennium Generation’s growth is fueled as much by immigration as by the offspring of baby 

boomers. Since 1980 when the first members of the Millennium Generation were born, 

childhood in America has become an increasingly diverse experience. The Census Bureau 

projected that children of immigrants will account for 88 percent of the increase in the under 18 

population between 2000 and 2050. Without immigration the population of children would 

decrease slightly from 2000 to 2015. 

Perhaps the most glaring reflection of the population trend is an explosion of marketing 

to children, particularly those six to 12, who have unusually strong influence on parental 

spending. Studies showed that children spent or influenced the spending of $500 billion a year in 

1998.

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