SW News: Italy has been plagued by a demographic crisis for the past few decades and now the issue is once again in the spotlight. During a conference held to discuss the issue, Pope Francis voiced concern over the alarming dip in the nation’s population and called for government policies providing financial stability to young Italians to stay in their homeland and have large families.

During the event, Italian premier Mario Draghi warned that the falling birth rate would make the country cease to exist. Last year, Italy marked 404,000 live births, which is the lowest since its unification in 1861, aggravating a steady decline that has made its fertility rate one of the lowest in the European Union.

Pope Francis hailed the creation of a bonus for families after each child is born and appealed for long-term, family-centric policies to provide hope to young families that they will be in a position to support big families over the years.

At 1.27 live births per woman, Italy has one of the lowest fertility rates in the European Union and it also has the world’s second-oldest population.