It reads as if the parents have between 8 and 12 children, but only 3 or 4 live to adulthood.
What is the context of this?
I'm confused about the meaning of this sentence:
The typical family is three or four children; the latter among the 8 to 12 children that will be born into the family during the lives of the parents.
So I get confused where it says "the latter"
Does this mean that in total there will be 8 to 12 childern that the parents have?
4 answers
The family of Purtains
That would be about right. Infant mortality in those days was pretty high.
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=infant+mortality+rate+%22colonial+america%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=277269eb79cf8370
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=infant+mortality+rate+%22colonial+america%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=277269eb79cf8370
I think the numbers are exaggerated, but you have it right. The real numbers is about 1/3 of the children died.
http://books.google.com/books?id=jpA5UO14yqgC&pg=PT66&lpg=PT66&dq=infant+mortality+puritans&source=bl&ots=QQ5v7-cPna&sig=dd_IxaerOw4LtqaeEERThWCBr88&hl=en&ei=EF2RTPOkGsb_lgfnupXkAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDIQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://books.google.com/books?id=jpA5UO14yqgC&pg=PT66&lpg=PT66&dq=infant+mortality+puritans&source=bl&ots=QQ5v7-cPna&sig=dd_IxaerOw4LtqaeEERThWCBr88&hl=en&ei=EF2RTPOkGsb_lgfnupXkAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDIQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false