The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
AFTER losing her job as the Covid-19 pandemic suffocated many companies, Ms Margaret Mlotsha (36) assumed the full care of her three minor children.
One of them, Raviro, has cerebral palsy and needs 24 hours supervision.
Like many other women, Ms Mlotsha has to strike a balance between being her daughter’s caregiver and also carrying out all domestic work in her household.
This includes cooking, cleaning, as well as fetching food, water and firewood, among other things.
The woman is single and receives no financial support from her children’s father.
Sadly, caregivers’ efforts are often ignored, undervalued and recognised as unskilled work.
Domestic unpaid work remains unrecognised in many developing countries, including Zimbabwe.
“I wake up at 3am daily, team up with a few other mothers from across Chikanga and climb Murahwa Mountain to look for firewood as we cannot afford to use electricity or gas for cooking.
“I get back home around 6am before my children wake up. One of them needs 24 hours supervision. I clean the house and prepare their food.
“During the day, I take care of the children and there is no time to rest. Two of my children sleep at 7pm, but Raviro does not sleep until 10pm. When she falls asleep, I start preparing for the next day. This leaves me tired and l cannot even look for a job,” she said.
Ms Mlotsha believes the introduction of social service grants will benefit her as she will at least be able to by electricity token and hire a domestic worker to assist her.
“I pray for the introduction of social service grants for pregnant women, single mothers, senior citizens, orphans, people with disabilities and widows as it will help lessen our burden.
“Fetching firewood takes most of my time. It is a risky business because it is illegal. At one time I was arrested and there was no one to take care of my children for the few hours that I was detained. If I had a social service grant, I would be able to hire a domestic worker to look after my children while I attend to other money spinning ventures,” she said.
Another unemployed mother, Ms Tecla Mutyambizi said men should assist with household chores and care work to reduce the burden on women.
“Unpaid care and domestic work should be discussed in schools so that boys have an early start at grasping the concept and assisting in reducing the burden of care work on women.
“It is a direct trigger to gender based violence, which in turn affects women’s confidence to take up leadership roles in the community,” she said.
The Sustainable Development Goals recognise and value the importance of unpaid care and domestic work through public services, infrastructure and social protection policies as well as shared responsibilities within the household.
According to UNWomen, men from across the globe spend 83 minutes per day on unpaid domestic work, while women spend 265 minutes, which is more than three times the average time spent by men on unpaid work.
As a result, women’ s participation in economic and developmental processes is often hindered.
Local women are calling for resources to be allocated towards unpaid care and domestic work.
They have since petitioned Parliament through the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCOZ). In an interview, Member of Parliament for Mutasa North, who is also the chairperson for the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Honourable Chido Madiwa said the marginalisation of women is being worsened by their socio-economic position in society which entails them to carry out unpaid household work.
She said women also need to be in decision making and leadership positions.
“Unpaid care and domestic work contributes towards the development of the country. Through these public hearings on the subject, women are asking for incentives or allowances from Government as they are in a way also contributing towards the development of the economy.
“They are complaining that their day-to-day unpaid work is characterised as invisible and informal and is unrecognised in the economy,” said Hon Madiwa.
She said the burden of unpaid work is worsened by lack of adequate provisions in critical areas such as food security, energy, health, water and sanitation.
“The construction of more facilities for the elderly, the sick and those with disabilities will lessen the burden for our unpaid care and domestic workers.
“It will also help us in attaining Vision 2030 and the SDGs,” said Hon Madiwa.
Padare Enkundleni Men’s Forum Mutare Chapter chairperson, Mr Endy Ziyera said unpaid care and domestic workers should be recognised.
“The country should be able to give subsidies to these unpaid workers. If not in the form of cash, Government can invest in quality, affordable and care-related infrastructure that will help in making life better for them. This could be easy access to public hospitals, water, energy and other services,” he said.
Ms Patience Mutakaya of Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE) said there is need for relevant Government ministries to recognise unpaid care and domestic work as a driver of socio-economic development and gender equality.
She said the welfare of caregivers must be included in policy formulation and national budgets.
“Most women are finding it hard to participate in leadership and political programmes as they have to take care of their children and households.
“They also fail to earn a living because this is unpaid work. Government must put care policies in place and allocate resources towards that .
“Caregivers should also get leaves, care services, social protection and childcare grants as well as adequate infrastructure,” she said. WCOZ called upon Government to consider providing scholarships for female caregivers. This will in turn increase their contributions towards developmental processes in the country.
“The Parliament of Zimbabwe must also play an oversight role in ensuring that ministries promote the systematic use of gender responsive budgets,” said WCOZ.
Men are also not being left behind in the fight for recognition of unpaid care and domestic work.
Gender champion, Mr Tinashe Muzama said there is need for Government to consider paternity leave for working fathers.
He said when fathers are given time off work, this will lessen the burden on women.
