More than 7 million women in the European Union are excluded from the labour market to care for family members.

Omissions

• Two independent sources or one primary source explicitly confirming the claimed magnitude of 'more than 7 million' could not be found within the search results.
• The European Commission press release IP/25/2100 (September 2025) and the ESDE 2025 report discuss the care gap as a structural barrier for women but do not provide the specific aggregate figure claimed.
• The EP report A10-0083/2026 mentions 7 million individuals receiving informal care, which is a related but distinct metric from the number of women excluded from the labour market to provide that care.
• The claim does not specify a time period, making it unclear which year's data should serve as the benchmark.
• The primary Eurostat source (table LFSA_IGAR) that could confirm or refute the figure was not directly accessible in the search results.

Sources

• SecondaryEuropean Commission Press CornerAround 75% of mothers of young children outside the labour force point to care duties as the main reason, compared to just 13% of fathers. Women, older people, migrants and persons with disabilities key to tackling EU skills and labour shortages.
• SecondaryEuropean Commission — Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) 2025Women's lower labour market participation is primarily due to the disproportionate volume of unpaid household and care work they undertake. Care and family responsibilities hinder labour market participation of women to a larger degree than men.
• SecondaryEuropean Parliament — Report A10-0083/2026 on addressing the gender care gap7 million individuals receive informal care. The document discusses women with caregiving responsibilities and their participation in the labour market.