MEMBERS of Parliament say they will push for legislation to recognise and regulate unpaid care work, while urging government to ensure the 2027 national budget addresses the needs of women who spend long hours caring for families without pay.

This was said during a gender-responsive budgeting workshop organised by Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) in Harare, ahead of the 2027 pre-budget consultations.

MPs said unpaid care work, which includes childcare, cooking, cleaning, fetching water and firewood, and caring for sick and elderly family members, was largely carried out by women and remained poorly recognised in national economic planning.

Zanu PF's Midlands Proportional Representation MP Perseverance Zhou said Parliament would continue pushing for a budget that responds to the needs of women.

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"We want to make life easy for the women who are responsible for unpaid care work. Our national policies and budgets must reflect that we value women and we recognise them.

"As parliamentarians we are not going to stop pushing for a national budget that prioritises women's issues," Zhou said.

Zhou also called for basic needs to be made more accessible, particularly for women in rural areas.

"Let us have a law that removes taxes on women's basic needs that are uniquely essential to them. Women must have access to sanitary essentials tax free. Let us have women getting pads for free, let us have free maternity access to everyone.

"Women are on national duty and let us make it easier for them," she said.

Cowdray Park MP Arthur Mujeyi said Parliament needed to push for increased budgetary allocations to support people doing unpaid care work.

"There is a gap in regards to unpaid care work and as MPs we are going to try and push for a national budget that will help these unpaid workers.

"Women bear the brunt of unpaid domestic work and as a nation we didn't really care about it due to how we were socialised. However, these women are equally, if not contributing the most, to our economy's growth," Mujeyi said.

The workshop also gave women from marginalised communities an opportunity to speak about the realities of unpaid care work, including the time and economic opportunities lost while caring for children, elderly relatives and other family members.

In August, Parliament adopted a motion calling for unpaid care work to be legally recognised, its economic contribution measured, and increased government spending on services to reduce the burden on women and girls.

With the 2027 budget preparations approaching, MPs and women's rights advocates are now seeking to move the issue from parliamentary debate into legislation and actual budget allocations.