2.4 children

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English

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Etymology

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From what was once the average (and therefore supposedly typical) number of children per household in the United Kingdom.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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2.4 children pl (plural only)

  1. A stereotypical characteristic of normal family life; frequently used ironically.
    • 1993, Carl F. George, How to Break Growth Barriers: Capturing Overlooked Opportunities for Church Growth, Baker Books, →ISBN:
      Maybe their pastoral family, with their 2.4 children, is at the perfect age and life stage for that church, and yours does not seem to be (or vice versa).
    • 2013, Jackie Highe, The Modern Grandparents' Guide, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
      In the 1960s and 1970s it was normal to marry and have babies at a young age – girls were routinely leaving school at sixteen, marrying at eighteen and having their 2.4 children before their twenty-third birthday..
    • 2015, Kerry O'Halloran, The Politics of Adoption: International Perspectives on Law, Policy and Practice, Springer, →ISBN, page 821:
      The heterosexual, monogamous, married for life couple, exclusively committed to the upbringing of their 2.4 children, was the family unit that adoption was legally designed to replicate.

See also

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