France has sounded the alarm over what it calls a "demographic deficit" and a shortage of births, prompting French President Emmanuel Macaron to seek new policies urging the French to have children.
At a press conference held by Macron on Thursday, he stressed his desire to restore balance to the French family and adopt a "family policy" that would restore the family's vitality.
"Our families, which have gradually changed in recent years, are no longer like French families 20 years ago," the French president said, expressing his intention to create a "dynamic of French birthplace."
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, about 758,000 new births were born in France in 2018, a decrease of 12,000 births compared to 2017.
For his part, French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blancier expressed regret that France was not aware of the problem of its demographic deficit.
"There is a shortage of between 40,000 and 50,000 children in the country since 2013 to ensure the renewal of the population," he said in an interview with Le Journal.
"This is dangerous if it continues in this way because it concerns the population on the one hand, and the geographical extension on the other, because this deficit is particularly evident in rural areas."