In Europe, 45% of the population provides unpaid care, and the vast majority are women.

Omissions

• Geographic scope: the claim says 'Europe' but the source (Eurofound) covers the EU (27 Member States), not the entire European continent (≈44 countries).
• The gender breakdown ('vast majority are women') is broadly accurate and consistent with extensive EU data from EIGE and Eurostat, but the specific percentage of women among the 45% of unpaid carers was not directly sourced from the Eurofound report during verification.
• The Eurofound report was published in July 2025; the session date is May 2026, so the MEP could have known this data, though the data collection period likely predates the publication by several months to a year.

Sources

• PrimaryEurofound — Unpaid care in the EU (ef25001en.pdf)Nearly half (45%) of the EU population provides unpaid care. Ten per cent of people balance multiple caring responsibilities simultaneously.
• PrimaryEIGE — Survey of Gender Gaps in Unpaid Care, Individual and Social Activities (1st wave)In 2022, EIGE collected and analysed pioneering EU-wide survey data on women's and men's engagement in unpaid care, individual, and social activities. The survey confirms substantial and persistent gender gaps in unpaid care provision across the EU.
• SecondaryEurofound press release — Almost half EU population now provide unpaid care45% of the population are now engaged in unpaid care across the EU with one in ten managing multiple caregiving roles.