Family

Fun Facts About Family

• The word "family" comes from the Latin familia, which in ancient Rome referred to the entire household (servants and slaves included) and not just blood relatives.
• The Guiness World Record for the largest family reunion was set in 2012 by a family in France. There were 4,514 attendees.
• In medieval Europe, the average woman had her first child around the age of 24, but her last child often came in her early-40s. That meant families had kids over a span of 15–20 years.
• The longest marriage ever officially recorded lasted almost 87 years. It was between a North Carolina couple first married in 1924.
• The record for the most children born to one mother is 69. Her 27 pregnancies between 1725–1765 produced 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets, and 4 sets of quadruplets.
• In most polls, Americans mention "family" as what gives them the highest sense of meaning in their lives (roughly 70%).
• The traditionaly nuclear family ideal (defined as two married parents with their own children under 18) peaked in the 1950s. But it has since significantly declined, where today only about 20% of households fit that classic ideal.
• American women today have an average of about 1.9 children in their lifetime. That figure was 3.7 back in 1960. Women today are also much more likely to be the sole or main breadwinner in the family: 40% versus just 10% in 1960.