A word / idiom for "living a normal life, like everyone else"?

Question

A4 is the standard size of a sheet of paper (anywhere but the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Dominican Republic).

In Norwegian, there's an idiom, "The A4 life". It means something like:

You work 8-4 in a fairly common profession, have a house, one or two cars, a spouse, and one or more children. You don't do anything extraordinary, you've settled down, and live life like everyone else.

Note: It doesn't mean you live a boring life, and it's not necessarily negative. It means that on paper, your life is just like everyone else's. Note that the part about having a spouse and children is essential.

Is there a word, idiom or phrase that describes this in English?

Answer 1

That's a great phrase! I can't think of a direct analogue in English, but the closest is probably to have settled down: to have 'establish[ed] a settled lifestyle, and especially to [have] marr[ied].' A more interesting idiom is to have 2.4 children: to have an average or conventional family life, by reference to the supposed average number of children per family in the UK. Someone with 2.4 children probably also has a 9 to 5 (this can be used without the suffix 'job' and doesn't necessarily mean that they actually work from 9 am to 5 pm).

Answer 2

You might call an average person a common name like John Doe (also Jane Doe) or John Smith.

A white picket fence is a symbol of an ordinary life. You could say "living a white picket fence life."

An Average Joe (US) or an Ordinary Joe (UK) is another name for an archetypical person.

Answer 3

We sometimes utilize the latin term status quo when referencing someone's life attributes in comparison to an average. For example, a thirty-something year old in the middle of his career working standard or regular hours, living in an cozy house, possibly married with about 2 children, might have a status quo life.

Other expressions include the terms 2.4 children, John/Jane Doe, middle-class, 9 to 5, ordinary, bread-and-butter, and especially in America, living the American dream or living a white picket fence life.