Over 53 million women perform informal care work.

Error detected

The claim states 'over 53 million women perform informal care work' but the 53 million figure refers to all informal carers (men and women combined) in the EU. Women constitute approximately 59–61% of this total, or roughly 31–32 million — not 53 million. The overestimation is approximately 65–70%.

Omissions

• The MEP conflates the total number of informal carers (53 million people of all genders) with the number of women informal carers. The 53 million figure is widely cited for all informal carers in the EU, not women specifically.
• The MEP did not cite a specific source, making it difficult to trace the origin of the error.
• Data on informal carers is inherently an estimate; Eurocarers places the proportion of women among informal carers at 59% across the EU, while the OECD reports 61% across 26 OECD countries. Both figures yield approximately 31–32 million women, far below the claimed 53 million.
• The claim was made on 2026-05-20 during the same week an EP report on the gender care gap was being discussed, which cited the 53 million total figure — suggesting the MEP may have misread or misrepresented that figure.

Sources

• PrimaryOECD Health at a Glance 2025Across 26 OECD countries, 61% of informal carers were women, ranging from 53% in Spain to 73% in Latvia.
• SecondaryBrussels TimesThere are 6.2 million formal carers and 53 million informal carers in the EU, said Eleonora Meleti, the Parliament's rapporteur. The article does not attribute this figure exclusively to women.
• SecondaryIl Sole 24 OreThere are 6.2 million formal caregivers and 53 million informal caregivers in the European Union. The 53 million refers to all informal caregivers, not women exclusively.
• SecondaryEurocarersOn average in the EU, 59% of all informal carers (age 18 or over) are women, ranging from 52% (RO) to 65-66% (CZ, LT, PL).