family planning

Deliberate control of human population growth by various means (contraceptives, sterilization, and abortion), in order to reduce the birth rate. The majority of developing nations now have governments that support some sort of family planning programme.

Since the early 1950s India has taken the lead among developing nations to control its population growth, with government-sponsored programmes. However, in April 2001, it became the second country after China to have a population of over 1 billion. In China, there is a one-child policy, and couples lose large financial benefits if they have a second child.

According to a 2003 UN report, the average number of births per woman is 1.5 in the industrialized countries, where most women use birth control, compared with 5.0 births per woman in Africa and 2.9 across the developing world.