There are more than 50 million people providing informal, unrecognised care.

Omissions

• The MEP did not cite any source for the 'more than 50 million' figure.
• No primary source was found that explicitly quantifies 'informal unrecognised care' at more than 50 million in the EU. The closest relevant EU-wide data comes from Eurofound, which reports that approximately 45% of the EU population (~200 million) provides unpaid care, but this is a broader category that includes childcare and other forms of unpaid support beyond care for elderly, ill or disabled persons.
• Eurostat data from the same period indicates that more than 12 million people in the EU specifically care for ill, elderly and/or disabled relatives — a narrower definition that yields a figure far below 50 million.
• The OECD Health at a Glance 2025 report found that 6.3% of respondents across surveyed countries provide informal care on a daily basis, but this covers OECD members, not the EU exclusively, and captures only daily — not occasional — care.
• The wide range of estimates (from ~12 million to ~200 million) reflects significant definitional ambiguity around what constitutes 'informal, unrecognised care', making it difficult to verify a single precise figure.

Sources

• PrimaryEurofound (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions)Around 45% of the EU population provides unpaid care, with one in ten juggling multiple caregiving roles at once.
• PrimaryEurostat — Reconciliation of work and family life statisticsMore than 12 million people in the EU take care of ill, elderly and/or disabled relatives.
• PrimaryOECD — Health at a Glance 2025: Informal carersOn average, 6.3% of survey respondents across these countries indicated that they provide informal care on a daily basis, compared to 6.9% in the previous survey.