The aim of this paper is to highlight the main characteristics of family
workers in the European Union (how many? who are they?) and the role played
within households as a tool to alleviate poverty. The subsequent objective is to
evaluate the effect of these characteristics on the condition of family worker in
order to identify the main factors that lead a household member to choose this
specific employment status. The analysis will be based on EU-SILC 2012 survey,
the Eurostat project that aims to monitor the income and living conditions of the
European Union households for a responsible planning of economic and social
policies.