Family Planning
Conclusion
Ideal family planning includes consideration of the timing of marriage, number and spacing of children, and when the first and last births will occur. It requires that couples discuss sexuality, contraception, and other long-range plans such as schooling or work plans that affect births. North Americans still do little of this planning, and teenagers receive insufficient instruction about these topics. Family planning should be an important part of the modern lifestyle. If individuals do not take on this responsibility, there is always the potential that government, as in the case of China, will see a need to intervene.
See also: ABORTION; ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME (AIDS); ABSTINENCE; ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES; BIRTH CONTROL: CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS; BIRTH CONTROL: SOCIOCULTURAL AND HISTORICAL ASPECTS; CHILDCARE; CHILDLESSNESS; CIRCUMCISION; FERTILITY; HUTTERITE FAMILIES; INFANTICIDE; PREGNANCY AND BIRTH; SEXUALITY; SEXUALITY EDUCATION; SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES; SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES
Bibliography
Bullough, B., and Bullough, V. (1998). Contraception. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.
Bullough, V. (2001). Encyclopedia of Birth Control. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio.
Bullough, V., and Bullough, B. (1983–84). "Population Control vs. Freedom in China." Free Inquiry 3:12–15.
Bullough, V., and Bullough, B. (1995) Sexual Attitudes: Myths and Realities. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus.
Central Intelligence Agency. (1998). The World Factbook 1997–98. Washington, DC: Brassey.
Cleland, J., and Hobcraft, J., eds. (1985) Reproductive Change in Developing Countries: Insights from the World Fertility Survey. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Coale, A. J. (1971). "The Decline of Fertility in Europe from the French Revolution to World War II." In Fertility and Family Planning: A World View, ed. S. J. Behrman, L. Cors, Jr., and R. Freedman. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Freeman, S., and Bullough, V. (1993). The Complete Guide to Fertility Planning. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus.
Green, C. P. (1992). The Environment and Population Growth: Decade for Action. Supplement to Population Reports, Series M., No. 10, Vol. 20. Baltimore: Population Information Program, The Johns Hopkins University.
McKeown, T. (1976). The Modern Rise of Population. New York: Academic Press.
Van de Walle, E. (1978). "Alone in Europe, The French Fertility Decline Until 1850." In Historical Studies of Changing Fertility, ed. C. Tilly. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
"Why Family Planning Matters." Population Reports, Series J., Number 49, 2000.
Other Resources
International Planned Parenthood Federation. (2002). Available from http://www.ippf.org.
VERN L. BULLOUGH
Additional topics
Marriage and Family EncyclopediaPregnancy & ParenthoodFamily Planning - Methods And Effectiveness, Social Regulation, Infertility, Conclusion