Familial, Educational, and Economic Values and Experiences of Single Parents

Abstract

This study employed a descriptive-analytical design using both quantitative and qualitative methods of research. It aimed to analyze the familial, educational, and economic values and experiences of single parents in the province of Capiz. The instruments included researcher-made questionnaire, focus group discussion guide and in-depth interview guide. The questionnaire was administered to 393 respondents who were chosen using random sampling. The results revealed that single parents view familial, educational and economic values as moderately important values. However, they consider familial values as the most pressing among the three. Single parents also have fair and balanced experiences in terms of child rearing practices, time management, financial management and self-image perception. Among the four, the highest rated experience where they struggle the most is on financial management and self-image perception. Their usual coping mechanism is spending quality time with their children followed by keeping themselves busy at work or at home. This study reinforced the fact that for the single parents, family is the most important unit that they could belong to. This study also concluded that education is being viewed as a necessity in uplifting the single parents' status thus, they exert much effort in educating their children. It is highly imperative that studying unconventional families in their struggle to live a normal life should be the subject of more researches in order to help and understand them better. Through this study, many researchers could be enjoined to conduct more studies as they will have sufficient literature which could guide them in their research pursuit.