ROME-A record low birth rate shakes Italy as it attempts to recover from the economic crisis amid increasing unemployment levels.

 In 2013 there were less than 515,000 births, 12,000 less than the number of births registered in 1995 according to the annual report carried out by Istat, the national statistical agency. This is the lowest number of births in Italy in 20 years.

 Meanwhile, high unemployment levels prove to be dampening Italy’s effort as it struggles to emerge from the recession. Istat reported a staggering 6.3 million citizens that were unemployed last year as the Italian economy cut 478,000 jobs, the largest drop since the economic crisis began.

 Part-time and temporary contracts lasting less than a year have become more popular among workers as the number of precarious jobs increased in 2012 by 22.1%. 

 Last year there were two million families with at least one person unemployed or retired, whilst there were still three million households without a single member in employment.

 Among the younger generation the number of people between the ages of 15-29 that were in the NEET category-neither employed nor in education nor training programs-was 2,345,000, an increase of 576,000 since 2008.

 According to Istat, Italy has a “great inequality in the distribution of primary income.” Italy reportedly has the worst record in the European Union for income inequality with 7.6 million Italians living in conditions of severe deprivation. Even after government intervention in an attempt to even out household incomes, the level of inequality remains significant.

 The economic crisis has also affected the arrival of immigrants. In 2010 the influx was 321,000, 27.7% less compared to 2007.

 In addition to this, the fragility of the Italian economy has forced many Italians to find new opportunities elsewhere. According to Istat, the number of emigrants in 2012 was 68,000, 36% more than in 2011 and according to the report, was the “highest number it has been in ten years.” Of the number of emigrants that left in 2012, Istat reveals that 26,000 were youngsters between the ages of 15 and 34-ten thousand higher than the number in 2008.