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family planning

family planning

39 3.2
To choose how many children to have and when, usually using birth control
  • noun
  • /ˈfæmɪli ˈplænɪŋ/
translation icon : planificación familiar
  • The local clinic offers various family planning services to help couples manage their reproductive choices.
  • family planning methods
  • family planning clinics
  • family planning programs

If the poorest people get out of poverty, their children survive, they get access to family planning that is needed.

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Examples

  • Access to family planning resources can significantly improve the health and well-being of families.

  • It's a family planning clinic, right?

  • Excuse me, is this the line for the family planning?

  • The finding regarding family planning efforts is significant in two ways.

    Academic text (1990)
  • For instance, for every $1 we spend on family planning programs, we save $4 in later costs.

    Blog text (1)
  • Its first applications have been in family planning and adult literacy.

    Academic text (1992)
  • American aid programs around the world did not meet the criteria the Vatican had for family planning.

    Academic text (1992)
  • The government plans to reduce the 'unmet need' for family planning from 40 percent to 10 percent.

    Blog text (12)
  • According to government officials, the uptake of family planning services is increasing, albeit slowly.

    Blog text (12)
  • My practice is family planning, birth control, sterilization and pregnancy termination.

Synonyms

contraception
vsfamily planning
175 4.4

Methods and devices that prevent pregnancy when people have sex

is a broader practice that controls number and timing of children beyond methods
birth control
vsfamily planning
139 2.5

Methods people use to prevent pregnancy and plan when to have children

is the same idea expressed with a different phrase
birth prevention
vsfamily planning
1 3.5

Actions to limit the number of children people have, often using birth control

is about controlling both the number and the spacing of children

Surface Forms

Morphology

family + planning

The meaning 'the practice of controlling the number and spacing of children' is directly derivable from combining 'family' (household/parents and children) with 'planning' (making future arrangements); it literally denotes planning related to family matters. This compositional pattern is common across many languages (e.g. Spanish 'planificación familiar', French 'planification familiale'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Family planning comes from the simple idea of making a plan for your family and deciding when and how many children to have. One popular story says the phrase grew in the 1900s when doctors and community groups taught people about birth control so they could 'plan' their lives, so today it means arranging how many children to have and when.