“Things are made for families of 4”

[Fairylights87]

What does it mean that things are just made for families of 4 like hotels, tickets etc. ?

I read this argument against having more than 2 kids in many threads but what does it mean?

Can people not book AirBnb or cottages etc. for holidays? Interconnecting rooms with a sofa bed isn’t a solution for larger families? When you book tickets can’t you book 2 adults and 3 kids when you make the booking?

Why people say that everything is structured for families of 4?

Can you please give me examples that this was an issue?

Agree with this. I remember booking a hotel room and the cost for one adult and two kids was same price as 2 adults and 2 kids. When I booked one of the kids in as an adult it came out cheaper 🤔
So many times I noticed on days out that the family tickets had no option for single parent families.
It does seem like everything is set up for 2 adults and 2 kids. Any less adults or more children and you pay more on average per person.

That's kind of the point, isn't it ..... when you have a larger family, remember your holidays may involve staying in youth hostels! God, depressing thought ... really should have stopped at 2 😅

I've actually found it much easier (cheaper and just more convenient) once I was a single parent to 3 as that conformed to the 2+2 rule (adult often starts at 14 for stupid family tickets)

I’m not trying to make a point, I was answering the question in the OP.

When people say things are ‘structured for a family of 4’ they are pointing out that the extra family member means things become disproportionately expensive compared to a family of 4.

Of course you stuck the sausages in the freezer or book a cottage not hotel rooms. But the OP appeared confused about the reason people say it.

cars
especially in the phases when dc need a lot of space. i.e. car seats and then later as teens. often thd middle seat is not a 'full' seat.

We are a family of five. Only hotel rooms are a problem but we prefer self catering options and are more comfortable in an Airbnb in any case. My normal sized car fits us all in just fine, although we have an age gap which never meant cramming three car seats in the back. I think it's just one of those throwaway things people say like, "...because only have two hands", as if it were an actual insurmountable problem.

Biscuits were a big problem when I was a child. Chocolate biscuits tend to come in packs of 6. I was one of 3 children. If we had one each there were 2 left over. If both my parents wanted a biscuit too then there was 1 left over.
Deciding who had the remaining biscuit(s) was the source of many a disagreement.

It just depends on your lifestyle.
I hate staying in hotels and much rather choose air bnb type of places.
My kids had blue Peter badges and we'd get vouchers and deals so always saved money on days out anyway.
Mostly, parks, museums and galleries are free. Invest in bikes, kites and balls and kids have fun without paying any extra.
We don't eat sausages but often buy the extra portions as dh eats a bit more and leftovers for lunch are always useful.
It's quite easy to adapt.

The only one that I've been bothered by is not being able to have 3 children and 2 adults in 1 hotel room, which significantly increases the cost of a holiday.
The ticket thing never bothers me as we can get a family ticket plus 1 extra child 🤷‍♀️

You really couldn’t work this out on your own?

It's simply a different attitude.

In Italy, France etc they are keen to encourage people to have more children for sound economic reasons as population growth is well below replacement rate. This leads to either a slow economy and low productivity or high immigration policies being required.

In the UK we prefer high immigration to boost the population.

Countries can follow either approach, but if you are thinking about having more than 2 kids in the UK, it's something to (re)consider. You won't be thanked for it. You will be in other countries in Europe. Actually makes holidays in the EU a better bet for larger families from the UK, if nothing else. I really enjoyed our cheap travel and entry to museums etc. Nice to be appreciated for a change.

I brought up my kids to have no loyalty to the UK I hope they all emigrate tbh.

We have 3 kids and never stay in hotels - too expensive. Once went away on an organised thing and had to pay 2 adults 2 kids and 1 single supplement (ie more than our other adult costs!)
It's just a comment on cost and convenience, but oh, it's real...

I have 3 children, soon to be 4 and I’ve never experienced any issues.
We go abroad 3/4 times a year; we either book villas or hotels and hotels we either book 2 bedroom rooms or a large suite.
We go to legoland Windsor a couple of times a year and the 5 of us fit fine; me and DH in the double bed and the 3 children in the bunk beds and trundle. We don’t stay overnight at Alton towers as it’s not that far from us and not worth staying. We go to theme parks and days our often and have never had a problem.

We’ve always had big cars just as they’re our preference and our eldest child only needed a high backed booster when DC3 arrived and doesn’t need one at all now so again, no issue fitting in the cars.

This is so true.

I do wonder if family size 5 is a particularly bad idea. It's also very hard to correctly divide a cake into five equal pieces

We’ve had 1 hotel room plenty of times for the 5 of us. Either book a suite or a 2 bedroomed room.

I can’t decide whether this is sarcastic or whether people do actually think about these things 😂

Alton towers have bunk bed trundles in a separate area! Fine for a family of 5.

We are getting to that point. We have admitted defeat and next car will be a beast. I'm sick of them arguing and his elbow touched my knee, mum he coughed in my ear, the younger one is kicking me, take his shoes off then, but he's still doing it. Muuuuuum, mum,mum,mum.

I've got used to the buying extra tickets and we've given up on abroad holidays (I won't repeat what's been said up-thread).

When youngest is a bit older and not in his running into traffic phase we will take the hit to go abroad.

Now I am confused. If three children each have a biscuit out of a packet of 6 then aren't there 3 left over?

Possibly because larger families are less common than in the past. I’m not against people having large families at all.

My mother had 7 because she had a condition that her doctors thought would be negatively effected by the pil when it was first available. They advised her against it. She actually told me that she didn’t want to have children. None of us, myself included, have more than 2 DC, 2 have no children, because we had the choice.

What pack of biscuits only contains 6?? There are loads in digestives etc!

Jammy Dodgers? Oh, and freshly cookies from the bakery (I find the trick here is to eat one on the way home)

Things are often designed for families of 4: this is a fact, I don't get why anyone would argue against it 🤷🏻‍♀️ but equally just because things are designed for and often more easy for families of 4 doesn't mean there are solutions and options for different family sizes. Don't really understand why people are getting snippy with each other about it. Other examples of where a group of 4 works better, roller coasters where each car seats 4. Restaurants where more tables will seat 4 than anything else & turning up without a reservation can be tricky. Doesn't mean you can't make it work outside 4s but obviously it's easier to be accommodated if you are a 4.

You quoted the post, but did you read it?

Tables when eating out. Most are for 2 or 4, you have to wait longer to get a table for more than 4 people.

Even worse, and a clear example of 4 person prejudice, those packs of muffins that come as a 4 pack.