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Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

Single parents are a special population of students who need to be

advised differently than traditional students. Academic advisers play a critical

role in helping these students manage college in addition to their other

responsibilities. Students who are single parents face pressures academically

as well as from their parental responsibilities (Tehan, Lisa, 2007). Single

mothers with dreams have been able to make them a reality with grants.

Some have been able to seek higher education to prepare themselves for

better job opportunities. Others have started their own business or grown one

they already had.But some people claimed that growing up in a fatherless

home was the major cause of child poverty, delinquency, and school failure;

while others denied that single motherhood had any harmful effects. And

some objected even to discussing the topic for fear of stigmatizing single

mothers and their children (The American Prospect, 2016).

According to Schmottroth (1994) one of the major expenditures of

single parents is child care. On average, a poor mother spends 32 percent of

her total weekly income on child care. This percentage nearly doubles when

more than one child needs care. For this reason, 65 percent of single parents

are turning to informal, unpaid arrangements--such as extended family or

neighbours--as alternatives to formal day care. Although this form of child

care may allow the single parent's limited income to be distributed across a

greater set of needs (i.e., housing, clothing, food), quality of care may be

sacrificed. Poor, single, working parents often are forced to choose between
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quality and flexibility of child care arrangements. Many jobs offering adequate

pay require long and/or irregular hours. For many single parents, this may

mean using less well-trained or experienced child care providers who are

working long hours or supervising too many children (Schmottroth, 1994).

In the Philippines, there is an organization about single parenthood

which is called “Pinay Single Moms Organization”. This organization envisions

the herculean job of a single mom but at the end it is a joy and lifetime

achievement when your child was raised successfully. The organization’s

missions are to help one another in all aspects of single motherhood, to give

emotional, psychological, financial support of starting mothers from pregnancy

to birth-giving, to train the mother for independent child rearing, and to give

moral support by sharing the pains and joys of being a single mother.

Several challenges confront single parents, young mothers in

particular, as they try to gain access to and persist higher education. One

challenge is finding time for self while managing multiple roles. Single parents

in higher education often find themselves faced with the logistical and

emotional difficulty of balancing multiple roles as parent, student, employee,

caregiver, and responsible head of the household. The demands of these

roles create additional stress on this population as they attempt to enrol in and

persist in college.

It is in this premise that the researcher would like to conduct this

research entitled the level of effectiveness in child caring of single mother

students enrolled in this School Year 2016-2017.

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on the concepts and views from the

distinguished theorists, psychologists, and other researchers who are expert

in this field. The following theories are based on Acker & Webber et.al, (2006),

Temblador, (1990) and Sroufe, Cooper, & DeHart (1996) theory on single

motherhood.

This research is based on the ideas of Acker & Webber et.al, (2006)

that single mother students face requires a theoretical framework that

acknowledges and highlights both shared experiences and differences.Single

mothers are not a homogenous group. In some instances, there may be as

much heterogeneity within social groups as there are between social groups

and this is particularly true for single mothers in this study.

It is also based on Temblador, (1990) ideas on Single mother

students. He said that for the single mother in school, she too must figure

out how she is to evaluate her performance both as a student and as a

mother. When the guidelines for evaluating her performance are ambiguous,

as is the case with motherhood, she most likely will compare herself to others

around her.

Sroufe, Cooper, & DeHart (1996) stated that mothers who are

dissatisfied with their employment status “enjoy their children less, are less

confident as parents, and have more difficulty controlling their children.”

Statement of the Problem

The study investigates the level of effectiveness in child caring of single

mother students.

Specifically, it aims to prove answers to the following questions:

1. What is the level of effectiveness of single mother students in child

caring?

2. What implication can be drawn from the result of the study?

Scope and Delimitation

The study determines the level of effectiveness of single mother

students in child caring. The researcher respondents are the BEED and

BSED single mother who are studying at Ramon Magsaysay Memorial

Colleges, General Santos City, for the Academic Year 2016-2017.

Significance of the Study

The study benefits to the following sectors:

Single Mother Students. Through this study, single mothers would

have knowledge of taking good care of their child/children and would help

them make closer to them. It will bring them awareness of adjusting to their

children to have a better preparation.

Children.Children would have the guts to improve their relationship to

their mother who work hard and at the same time goes to school to have them

a good future. Being a child of a single parent is difficult since they have to be

aware that their mothers need them since they don’t have partners in life.

To the Future Researchers. This study may help them to gather

information about the single mother students and the preparedness of taking

good care of their children. Future researchers would have a basis for their

future study relating on how to prepare the single mother students in taking

care of a child.
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Definition of Terms

Below is the term that is defined operationally for better understanding

of the terms used in the study:

Level of Effectiveness in Child Caring of Single Mother Students –

it is the efficient nurturing of single mother to her child/children and shoulders

most or all of the day responsibilities for raising a child.