Marketers, economists and educators are trying very hard to understand the Youth and Young Adult market because of the the new world of technology and information. 

The various labels for the ‘Next Generation’ can be very confusing. What defines the X,Y,Z age groups? Here are the definitions to clarify these terms.

1960s – early 1980s

Generation X: Is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the mid 1960s through the early 1980s.
SOURCE: Wikipedia

Ranging somewhere from the late-1970s or early 1980s to the late 1980s,  early,  mid,  or late 1990s

Generation Y:  AKA the Millennial Generation (or Millennials or the ME generation), are the demographic following Generation X. There are no precise dates for when Generation Y starts and ends,  and commentators usually use birth dates ranging somewhere from the late-1970s or early 1980s to the late 1980s,  early,  mid,  or late 1990s. Members of this generation are called Echo Boomers,  due to the significant increase in birth rates through the 1980s and into the 1990s,  and because many of them are children of baby boomers.
SOURCE: Wikipedia

Second half of the 1990s through to the late 2000s or early 2010s

Generation Z: Is a common name for the group of people born after the Millenials. It refers to those born from the second half of the 1990s through to the late 2000s or early 2010s. This generation is currently growing up in the 2010s decade. The generation was born when the World Wide Web was already commonly used,  as opposed to Gen Yers who were born before the beginning of the Internet boom in the mid 1990s.
SOURCE: Wikipedia

The latest term coined in 2012

Generation V: A new online generation group called “Generation Virtual.” Coined by researchers at Gartner to describe the group of people whose online behavior, attitudes and interests are blending together online, cutting across generations and traditional demographics.

SOURCE: MarketingCharts.com