'Xennials' were born in the early 80s - here are all the ways they're different from the millennials they were supposed to be

Xennials were already in the workforce when the recession hit. Many Millennials, however, were just graduating college and looking for jobs. Interestingly, some research suggests that Xennials may have been hit hardest by the recession, because of a combination of student loan debt, job losses, and other factors.

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Many Xennials made it through their childhood and teen years without social media — no Facebook or even MySpace. Many millennials, on the other hand, had MySpace and Facebook accounts before entering college.

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On September 11, 2001, Xennials were in their teens and 20s; millennials were much younger. As one writer said of Xennials, "much of our childhoods were spared the dark shadow cast by tragedy and war," while millennials were somewhat shaken out of their innocence.

Xennials generally didn't get cell phones until their 20s. As kids, they used pay phones and called friends' landlines — meaning they had to talk to the friends' parents first. But some millennials were given cell phones as kids or teens.

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Overall, Xennials' parents were more relaxed than millennials' helicopter parents. One writer characterized the helicopter parenting style as "achievement-obsessed upper-middle class parents who cared so much about their children's comfortable excellence that they did everything they could to ensure it."

Xennials aren't especially pessimistic, but they aren't as optimistic and confident as millennials tend to be. A 2016 report found that millennials were more optimistic about the future than previous generations of young people.

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