2.2 children

[sack_6470]

can anyone explain this... have heard it a million times and assume it means the average family 2.2 so does it mean 2 adults 2 children?

[Jay_Jay]

2 children and .2 of a child on the way ?

[Catso]

Merely that it used to be the average number of children per family in the UK. Hence the title of the BBC sitcom of the '90s(?).

It think it's a lot less than this now.

[oldhamfan]

I believe the programme was called 2.4 children? I think the figure is now closer to 1.6 children.

[Catso]

All depends upon when you take the average, doesn't it?

[sack_6470]

blimey uv all confused me more lol
did i mean 2.4 durrrr
whatever the saying it is whats it mean? ... the first 2 represents the adults and the remainder the kids?

[kempie]

The so-called "nuclear family" traditionally consisted of a married mother and father and their children which, post-WWII, averaged 2.4 kids.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_family

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1990679.stm

[gary baldy]

If you take an average over a very large sample the number is unlikely to be a round number. Because the figures you are talking about are x millions divided by y millions you arent going to get an exact number - but a number in between 2 and 3.
2.2 means 2 and one fifth.
It just means that the average family has somewhere between two and three children.
Is that any clearer?