Whatever Happened to “ZPG?”

We sometimes hear from our members and supporters that they liked our old name—Zero Population Growth (ZPG)—better. It felt more descriptive of our mission, was more action-oriented, and seemed more urgent. Don’t fix what ain’t broke, right?

Well, the truth is, what started out as an effective name DID start to seem “broken” after the landmark International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994, which resulted in a widespread perspective shift that denounced demographic targets and embraced family planning and reproductive health for the sole benefit of women’s health, empowerment, and rights. Of course, we know that rights-based family planning programs help women, their families, their communities, and the planet.

Stabilizing the Population at a Sustainable Level

Following ICPD, many individuals and institutions started assuming a negative connotation when hearing our name for the first time. People who didn’t have a firm grasp on demographic terms thought that the organization being called Zero Population Growth meant that we were advocating for zero people. Of course, that was never the case—the mission has always been to stabilize the size of the population at a level that will ensure the planet can support people for many generations to come.

Still, some school administrators were reticent to host our Population Education program, journalists relied on us less as a helpful resource than they had in earlier years, and scheduling meetings with members of Congress became more difficult. Basically, the heyday of the ZPG movement that started in the 1960s had ended, and we were finding it more difficult to do our important work with a name that no longer resonated with activists, lawmakers, and educators who weren’t already supportive of our mission.

The name Population Connection was officially adopted in 2002. Our mission never changed, and our new name reopened doors for us. We continue to hold the copyright for Zero Population Growth and ZPG and use both in our materials when it makes sense. We even have a legacy giving circle called the ZPG Society (learn how to join here)!

A Voice for Population Advocacy

Population Connection better conveys the full breadth of our education and advocacy work, and makes it easier for our staff, members, and nationwide grassroots activists to be effective advocates for global population stabilization.

We still strive through our education and advocacy to achieve zero population growth, and we’ve found that as Population Connection we’re better equipped to do that.

Fun fact: The “new” name was chosen based on extensive focus group research with our members; in effect, they are the ones who chose the new name. (As an aside, most of the Population Connection staff were hired after the name change; in fact, only four program staff started working here before the name change in 2002. For most of us who work here now, we’ve only known the organization as Population Connection.)