The Millennial generation is forging a distinctive path into adulthood. Now ranging in age from 18 to 331, they are relatively unattached to organized politics and religion, linked by social media, burdened by debt, distrustful of people, in no rush to marry--and optimistic about the future. They are also America's most racially diverse…

This report represents the Pew Research Center's most ambitious examination to date of America's newest generation, the Millennials, many of whom have now crossed into adulthood. Pew Research Center began looking at this age group in 2006 in a comprehensive survey conducted in association with the PBS documentary series, "Generation…