2026 marks a big occasion for the avocado-guzzling, mayonnaise - killing generation: The youngest millennials turn 30 this year. It's a significant milestone for a generation that's weathered multiple recessions, a life-altering pandemic, and the transition of society from digitally curious to digitally native. While millennials, born between 1981 and 1996 , have long been the target of "young people these days" ire, they're now officially the new generation of adults — and reckoning with what