What year of birth would you consider being the start of the post-9/11 generation?

[Anonymous]

When was someone too young to remember 9/11 or what America was like before the attacks?

[Curmudgeon]

It is interesting to discover as time unfolds what events define USA Generations, usually that take place before or after said generations are cognizant.

My parents of "the Silent Generation" were defined as those (1) too young to be involved in WW2, but (2) too old to worry about the Vietnam War draft (and likely already married and well settled into families by the time that conflict began in earnest).

My "Generation X" has been defined as those (1) too young to be in "the Counterculture" of the late 1960s and 1970s. By the time we were cognizant of that Counterculture, that episode in USA history was irrelevant and passe nostalgic to us at best, and seen as horrid and downright destructive at worst. And similarly, what arguably separates Generation X from the "Millennial Generation" or "Generation Y" that followed it was (2) the then menacing Soviet Empire, which was defunct by the time Millennials / Generation Y were cognizant.

So what does separate, or will separate, Generation Y / Millennials from "Generation Z' as I think the demographers are calling it I think?

[Asker]

I believe that 9/11 is the main event that separates Millennials from Gen Z. I’m just not sure what year is the separation point.

[kespethdude]

If you were born on 9/12/01 or later, you are post-9/11. This is the DEFINITION of the term. Even the horrific attacks of 9/11 do not change this definition.

[jennifer_bloom]

I would say you'd have to be born in 1983 to be 18 when the plane hit the trade centre.

[laraWM]

I was 6, I think I was too young, especially since I'm not from the US

[Asker]

It might be different for children born in the USA

[laraWM]

Yes I agree

[Curmudgeon]

@laraWM. It must be. While some events are global, each nation or region will have its own events that mark generations, that will differ from the USA's "Generation Markers".