Social Studies

School-Based Assessment
(2022)

Candidate Name: Keyeisha White

Candidate #: 1002851081

School: Titchfield High School

Center #: 100285

Subject: Social Studies

Proficiency:

Year of Examination: 2022

Territory: Jamaica
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Teacher: Miss T. Thompson

Title: Single Parent Families in the Community of Mill Bank

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLES PAGES

Acknowledgement …………………………………………………………………………….1

SBA Topic ……………………………………………………………………………………..2

Statement of problem

Rationale ………………………………………………………………………………………3

Method of Investigation………………………………………………………………………4

Instrument Used to Collect Data …………………………………………………………….5

Procedures Used to Collect Data ……………………………………………………………6

Presentation and Analysis of Data ……………………………………………………….7-12

Interpretation of Data …………………………………………………………………...13-14

Findings………………………………………………………………………………………15

Recommendation…………………………………………………………………………….16

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………17

Appendix………………………………………………………………………………….18-22
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This successful completion of this School Based Assessment would not have been

possible without God, the help of family, and the class teacher. As a result, the researcher

wishes to show sincere gratitude to her teacher, Ms. Thompson for guiding and assisting me

throughout the completion of this assessment. Additional thanks goes to the researcher’s

mother for the motivation and additional guidance. Lastly, this researcher would love to give a

tremendous thank you to our Father in Heaven for keeping the researcher healthy, strong, and

in the right frame of mind to complete this assessment. To all those who assisted the

researcher, you are appreciated.

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SBA TOPIC

Single Parent Families in the Community of Mill Bank

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

How is single parenting viewed within the community of Mill Bank? What are the factors

responsible for this family type? What are the problems faced, and what solutions are there to

the problem associated with Single Parent Families?

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RATIONALE: (Why did I choose to do this topic?).

I have observed that in my community, Mill Bank, there are many cases of Single

Parenting. A single parent is a person who lives with a child or children and does not have a

spouse or live in partner. Even though there might be another ‘parent’ who sends money once

a month, it would still be considered single parenting, because the other parent is nevertheless

absent in the child’s life. The parent or main parent in these single-parent families is normally

women. This is typical because these women either don’t know who the father is, or the father

simply has no interest in the child’s life. Hence, the reason for common single-parent families

in Mill Bank. My family is a single-parent family, with my mother being the main parent.

This is the main reason for my interest in this topic. The aim of this topic is to ensure that

people understand what it's like to be a single parent and stop criticizing those unfortunate

enough to have a single-parent family.

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METHOD OF INVESTIGATION

To gather information about single-parenting in the Mill Bank community, I have

decided to use a questionnaire as the method of investigation. A questionnaire is a research

mechanism consisting of a series of related questions used for the collection of information

from individuals through questioning and answering. I chose to use a questionnaire because

according to https://surveyanyplace.com it is a fast way of gathering information; it is an

affordable way of gathering data; the respondent can be anonymous in case he/she is

uncomfortable in answering questions with a revealed identity.

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INSTRUMENT USED TO COLLECT DATA

Dear Local,

This questionnaire is being done in the Mill Bank District. This questionnaire aims to

ensure that people understand what it's like to be a single parent and stop criticizing those

unfortunate enough to have a single-parent family. This research is being done as an

assignment for a Social Studies subject I am currently taking. You are advised to answer the

following questions honestly. Since you do not have to put your name anywhere on the sheet,

no one will know your identity. THIS IS NOT A TEST. Therefore, there are no right or wrong

answers.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely yours,

K. White

Keyeisha White
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PROCEDURES USED TO COLLECT DATA

The Mill Bank District has approximately 25 households and around 10 of which are single

parents. It was estimated that 40% of the total number of households were needed for a

factual conclusion on single parents in the community.

(40% of 25 = 10)

★ A total of 10 questionnaires were prepared for the residents with an objective of 5

returns.

★ The researcher requested help from her mother to randomly choose which resident to

hand questionnaires to. The questionnaires were then placed in a folder jacket and

personally handed to each chosen resident.

★ Each chosen resident had a period of 24 hours to complete the questionnaire, starting

the moment they received it. Each chosen resident had the researcher’s contact

information in the case they were confused about something, or they were finished.

★ After completion of the questionnaires, the researcher personally went to the chosen

residents’ households and collected them.

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PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

A total of 10 questionnaires were handed out to the residents of Mill Bank, out of which 6

were returned with all questions answered.

Figure 1: This pie chart represents the genders that partook in the questionnaire.

After sending out ten surveys to 10 different residents of Mill Bank District, 6 were

returned with all questions completed. Out of the 6 that were returned, 4 (66.7%) were

females while 2 (33.3%) were males as can be seen in figure 1.

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AGES OF INDIVIDUALS WHO PARTOOK IN THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Ages Tally Amount

18 years old

19-30 years old //

30-40 years old //

40-50 years old

50+ years old //

Figure 2: This tally table shows the age group of the individuals who completed the

questionnaires.

These residents are of various ages. It is stated that 2/6 are between the ages of 19-30

years old. Another 2/6 are between the ages of 30-40 years old and the last 2 are above 50

years old as displayed in figure 2.

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Figure 3: This shows the reasons why these residents are single-parent households.

Desertion/abandonment is the most common reason for this type of single-parent

family in my community at 50%. This reports that the child’s other parent has no interest in

the child’s life. Then you got death being another cause at 33.3%. Lastly, at 16.7%, it shows

that the child’s other parent left for another family as illustrated in figure 3.
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Figure 4: This bar graph shows the ways these people receive money to support their

families.

Information shows that all 6 residents are working. All six (6) of the individuals that

partook in the questionnaire are working. While working, two (2) of 6 of them additionally

receives money from their families and the other four (4) of 6 additionally receive a

governmental benefit as illustrated in figure 4.

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Figure 5: The bar graph above represents the type of governmental benefits.

As mentioned above indicates that, 4/6 of the workers are receiving some sort of

governmental benefit. ½ of them are on PATH while the other ½ is on the Poor Relief

Program as shown in figure 5.

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Figure 6: Type of work these people do to support their families.

It states that out of the 6 that are working, 4/6 are self-employed farmers, and 1 out of

the remaining 2 is an employed painter while the other 1 is an employed shopkeeper as can be

seen in figure 6.
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INTERPRETATION OF DATA

After sending out ten surveys to ten randomly selected residents of Mill Bank District,

6 were returned with all questions completed. Out of the 6 that were returned, 4 were females

while 2 were males. All these individuals were above the age of 19 years old, stating that no

minors are currently single parents in the Mill Bank District. This information also states that

the majority of these households are headed by females.

In an article published by Keisha Hill, Sunday Gleaner Writer, on April 10, 2011, she

stated that about 45 percent of all Jamaican households are female-headed. Female-headed

households, according to 2002 data from the Planning Institute of Jamaica, also have a larger

number of children and adult females but have a lower per capita consumption than those

headed by males. Keisha Hill also added a quote said by Dr. Ralph Thompson who expressed

that, “The lack of a father figure can be disturbing to a child’s socialization. The problem is

neither uptown nor downtown. It is right across the board. There are just too many mothers

out there playing the single-parent role” as exemplified by the single-parent households in the

Mill Bank District.

In the Mill Bank District, there are various factors responsible for this family type.

The most common one is desertion. This is simply reporting that the child’s other parent had

or has no interest in the child’s life and left. This is considered a crime, and a consequence is

jail time. Other than desertion death is also another common yet sorrowful factor. The least

common factor responsible for the single-parent family type is one of the parents leaving for

another family. This is quite similar to desertion, however, it is not as common.

Given the fact that these six individuals are the sole breadwinners of the household,

they need a way to support themselves and their children. Research shows that all six

questioned residents are working, four being self-employed farmers while the other two are:
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one employed painter and one employed shopkeeper accordingly. There are many farmers in

the community of Mill Bank. The majority of them farmers mostly plant ground foods. They

then sell them on the market in Kingston, in Mill Bank, or in the neighboring communities to

earn a living.

However, this is not enough income to support their needs, hence the reason 2/6 of the

residents receive remittance from their families and the remaining 4/6 residents receive a

governmental benefit. The two governmental benefits that are issued are from the PATH

Program and the Poor Relief Program. In line with the Ministry of Labour and Social

Security, the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) is a

conditional cash transfer (CCT) program funded by the Government of Jamaica and the World

Bank. It is aimed at delivering benefits by way of cash grants to the poor families in the

society. According to Clarendon Municipal Corporation, The primary objectives of the Poor

Relief Program can be defined as follows: To monitor and ensure that registered and

temporary poor persons receive the services provided by organizations such as transportation,

housing, clothing, and allowances.

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FINDINGS

In completion of the questionnaire, the researcher now has a wider perspective on

single-parent families in her community due to the following reasons:

1. The death of the other parent is a common reason some of the respondents are single

parents.

2. These single-parent families need governmental benefits to support their families.

3. The government helps a lot by offering funds and school supplies.

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RECOMMENDATION

Fathers or mothers voluntarily deserting their child or children with the other parent is

not ok. The researcher suggests that the Child Development Agency can put actions into place

towards the parent not supporting their child’s needs, by placing that parent in court or

imprisonment if he/she refuses to support the child. If the other parent somehow says that

he/she will start to care for the child, social workers should visit or check up on them

frequently in the case of any abuse.

Friends, family members, and teachers of any young residents can teach them how to

properly plan for a child and how to practice safe sex.

The government can implement various strategies to establish institutions that these

parents can go to, and continue any unfinished education and have an occupation, so they can

better support themselves and their children.

The researcher recommends social workers to come frequently, at least once a month

to ensure the children are attending school, eating well and being cared for.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

01. Modules in Social Studies with S.B.A Guide (5th ed.). Trinidad: Caribbean Educational

Publishers Ltd.

02. https://surveyanyplace.com

03. https://jamaica-gSurvey Anyplaceleaner.com/gleaner/20110410/news/news5.html

04. https://cad.gov.jm/

05. https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/1694.pdf

06. https://clarendonmc.gov.jm/administration/poor-relief-0
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APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. What is your gender?

Female

Male

2. How old are you?

18 years old

19-30 years old

30-40 years old

40-50 years old

50+ years old

3. Do you have an occupation?

Yes

No

4. If ‘yes’, are you…

Employed

Self Employed
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5. If ‘no’, are you seeking a job?

I am seeking a job.

I am not seeking a job.

6. If your answer is ‘yes’ to question 3, what is your occupation?

Farmer

Police

Shopkeeper

Teacher

Other __________________

(Please specify)

7. If your answer is ‘yes’ to question number 3, how much is your salary?

$10 000 every 2 weeks

$20 000 every 2 weeks

$50 000 every 2 weeks

$70 000 every 2 weeks

$100 000 every 2 weeks

Other ______________________

(Please specify)

8. If your answer is ‘no’ to question 3, how do you receive money to cater to the needs of

you and your children?

Family

Friends
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Working

Government benefit

Other ______________________

(Please specify)

9. How often do you get support/money?

Every Week

Every Two Weeks

Every Month-end

Other ______________________

(Please specify)

10. How many children do you have?

1-3

4-6

6-10

10+

11. What is the reason for your current situation (being a single parent)?

The child’s other parent died.

The child’s other parent is in prison.

The child’s other parent had another family and left.

The child’s other parents have no interest in the child’s life.

12. How long have you been a single parent?

Since the child was born

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Since the child was 1-12 years old

Since the child became a teenager

13. What are your thoughts on the quote, “Time is more valuable than money? You can

get more money, but you can’t get more time.” ~Jim Rohn?”

14. Do you practice proper time management?

I do.

I am trying, but it is quite challenging.

No.

15. If the child’s other parent is still alive and not present in the child’s life, is he at least

paying child support?

He/she is.

He/she is, but barely anything.

He/she is not.

16. How do you think your child/children would feel if you brought home a spouse or

partner that is not their father/mother?

They wouldn’t mind, as long as I’m happy.

They would be neglectful towards the person.

They would not tolerate that and become petty, trying to gain my attention.
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17. Is there anything that the government is doing to help you?

Yes

No

18. If your answer is yes to number 17, please state what it is.

I collect PATH

I am on the Poor Relief Program

Other ______________________

(Please specify)

19. Do you think what the government is doing is enough?

Yes

No

20. If your answer is no to question 19, what would you prefer the government to do that

will improve your situation.

The government can issue more path money.

Other ____________________________________

(Please specify)