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. Keywords: Family workers, European Union, poverty.