Asked by Amy~

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?
Answered by Writeacher
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?
Answered by Amy~
The family of Purtains
Answered by Writeacher
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
Answered by bobpursley
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
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