THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL MAKE- UP OF SOLO PARENTS' DEPENDENTS IN REGIONS 2 AND 3 IN THE PHILIPPINES

INTRODUCTION:A solo parent is any individual who falls under either one of the categories here, "a parent who was left alone with the responsibility ofparenthood due to death of spouse" (paragraph2 (a) Section3, RA 8972) and "parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of parenthood due to abandonment of spouse for at least one year, " (paragraph 7 (a) Section 3, RA 8972). Republic Act No. 8972 an act providing for benefits and privileges to solo parents and their children , appropriating funds therefore and for other purposes. Approved on November 07 2000 during the Eleventh Congress Third regular session in year 2000.Parenting behaviors are known to have major impact on children. But it has proven difficult to isolate the specific mechanism of influence (Johnson, et. al., 2012). In this case, parenting lifestyle impact so much on the behavior of their children, especially, if these parents singlehandedly raise their children. The idea of single parenting is a very sensitive issue in family system. It brings risk factor for emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Family may be defined as "A family comprising of a single mother or father having their own dependent children ". The single parent family is created in a number of ways, may be death of one parent, divorce, separation due to job or service condition of the spouse (Inatay, Lifestyle Domains of Single Parents, 2013). Thus, if the dominant care giver is the parent in which the children have residency with majority of the time. If the parents are separated or divorced children live with their custodial parent and have visitation with their noncustodial parents, a child will end up with the primary caregiver, usually the mother, and a secondary caregiver, usually the father (Sahu, 2013). Today, one-third of American children - a total of 15 million - are being raised without a father. Nearly more than five million children live without a mother (Andersen, 2013). This research focused on the two sections of the law that give emphasis on the whole picture of a solo parent dependent who is innocent of the cause among their parents parted ways, "a parent who was left alone with the responsibility ofparenthood due to death of spouse" (paragraph2 (a) Section3, RA 8972) and "parent left solo or alone with the responsibility ofparenthood due to abandonment of spouse for at least one year, " (paragraph 7 (a) Section 3, RA 8972). These dependents are pondering why their parent abandoned them. Solo parenting is often a result of annulment of marriages as decreed by a court or by a church as long as she/he is entrusted with the custody of the children, or the spouse is in jail or is serving sentence for a criminal conviction for at least one year, or due to physical and or mental incapacity of spouse as certified by a public medical practitioner; legal separation or any family member who assumes the responsibility of head of family as a result of the death, abandonment, disappearance or prolonged absence of the parents or solo parents (Sec 3, RA 8972). This research was then conducted due to the stated premises that solo parent dependents are looking and longing for both care and strong parental love.OBJECTIVES:To identify the lifestyles, experiences, challenges, psycho-social behavior, coping mechanism and aspirations of the solo parents dependents.To be familiar with the challenges, coping mechanism and their aspirations in life.LOCALE OF THE STUDY:This study was conducted at Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, Cabanatuan City, Philippines.SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS:The study was focused on the solo parent dependents, their lifestyles, experiences, psycho -social behavior and academic performance. The study was conducted during the first semester of academic year 2012 - 2013. Only those respondents that qualified for the provisions of paragraph 2(a) and paragraph 7(a), RA 8972 were included. …