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CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Being a member of a family that is experiencing poverty is extremely difficult as

it leads to many problems such as worrying about the food to be eaten by the family,

children having difficult experiences in getting education, and parents worrying and

arguing on where to get the money to solve these particular problems. Not only do these

problems are to be fulfilled in just a day, these problems are, and should be fulfilled every

day. That is why poverty leads to a lot of problems which make one family’s state of

living to get poorer and worse as these problems also tend to get worse and continue to

make them suffer.

According to Ashley Crossman (2019), poverty is “a social condition or a state of

living that is characterized by the lacking of or having insufficient resources necessary

for basic survival or necessary to meet a certain minimum level of living

standards expected for the place where one person lives.” This means that a person or a

family that is experiencing poverty does not meet the expectations to be considered

having a stable living and therefore making suffer or experience poverty. In a country

like Philippines, poverty is a common thing to the Filipino families especially to those

living in the poor regions. It is because Philippines is one of the third world countries and

it means that this country is in the process of development, but it is still poor. A Filipino

family, especially the parents, that has no initiative to improve their state of living will

stay the same and experience the lack of accommodation or even experience worse. With
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that being said, Filipino parents should be responsible for their family’s state of living

and should do everything they can to improve it. However, these responsibilities will be

much more difficult for a single parent supporting his/her family.

A single parent is a mother or a father who is unmarried, divorced, or widowed

from his/her partner and is taking responsibilities for their child or children alone.

According to American Psychological Association (2019), “a single parent may feel

overwhelmed by the responsibilities of juggling caring for their children, maintaining a

job, and keeping up with the bills and household chores. And typically, the family’s

finances and resources are drastically reduced following the parent’s break up.” Being a

single parent means facing the responsibilities twice as difficult because the parent should

not only stand as a mother, but also as a father at the same time for their children. The

responsibilities that were left by the single parent’s partner should also be fulfilled for the

sake of their children to not feel any lack of support and attention from their parent.

Even in the past, single parents, especially those whose family is experiencing

poverty, tends to fulfill their family’s needs by getting an occupation that they can do.

These jobs usually have low income that is still enough for their family to be sustained

such as embroidery. According to My Modern Met (2019), “embroidery is the art of

applying decorative designs onto fabric using a needle. These motifs are traditionally

rendered in thread and are composed of different kinds of stitches.” In other terms,

embroidery is the process of combining ideas with a canvas creating a masterpiece that

can be seen by the naked eye. As having a job such as being an embroiderer requires

time, patience, passion and hard work, single parents need to manage this along with

prioritizing their family especially their children.

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Statement of the Problem

The main concern of this study is to analyze the struggles and challenges faced by

a single parent experiencing poverty. Specifically, this study seeks to answer the

following questions:

1. How did the single parent make his/her children be successful in life by means of

only having embroidery as a source of income?

2. What were the factors that fulfilled the needs of the family in terms of their source

of income?

3. What were the hindrances that the single parent have had faced while supporting

the family?

Significance of the Study

This study is deemed to be significant to the following:

Single Parents. The proposed study will benefit the single parents in terms of

being responsible to their family especially to their children.

Families Experiencing Poverty. Families that experience poverty and work in

embroidery will have an idea on how to manage and improve their state of living.

Embroiderers and People with Low Source of Income. This encourages

embroiderers and other people with low source of income that their job is not a hindrance

but can make them successful in life.

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Future Researchers. This research study serves as a reference for the relative

researches in the future.

Definition of Terms

For better understanding, these following terms are elaborated:

Basic Survival. Techniques that a person may use in order to sustain life in any

type of natural or built environment (Definitions.net, 2019). It is needed by families for

them to be sustained every day. This will be a much harder task for a single parent

because of being alone with the responsibilities.

Divorced. Having had one’s marriage legally dissolved (Wiktionary, 2019). It is

saddening to know that this kind of process is legal in some countries. This may happen

when a couple’s marriage is not working anymore. It can bring someone into being a

single parent to their children.

Embroiderer or Embroideress. A person who embroiders and do works related

to embroidery (Wiktionary, 2019). People who work as embroiderers or embroideresses

use equipment such as fabric, needle, thread, and other materials linked. However, they

might not receive a lot of profit as this job only gives low income to the workers.

Embroidery. Is the handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle,

thread and yarn (Freebase, 2019). Embroidery for most workers only gives low source of

income. It is a job that requires patience, time and effort to be able to create a handicraft.

Insufficient Resources. The state of having a lack in resources. This is

commonly faced by families who experience poverty especially families with low
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sources of income. This is also faced by individuals who struggle and fight the daily

challenges in order for them to live.

Occupation. The principal activity in your life that you do to earn money

(Princeton’s WordNet, 2019). It also serves as a key to survival in order for them to fulfill

their basic needs.

Poverty. The state of having little or no money and few or no material

possessions (Princeton’s WorldNet, 2019). It is also one of the major problems that a

country is dealing with especially those people who cannot afford to live a better life by

means of their standard of living.

Responsibilities. Duties, obligations, or liabilities for which someone is held

accountable (Wiktionary, 2019). These also serve as an important role to fulfill the needs

of a family and to become successful in their lives. A family must prioritize their needs to

survive instead of the things that they only wanted.

Single Parent. Is a mom or dad who is not in a marriage or who is a widow or a

widower (Jackie Pilossoph, 2017). They must stand as a mother and also a father to their

children despite of the struggles that they face in their life. They also need to make their

children feel all the love, care, treatment and support that their parents must give to them.

State of Living. The status of a person or a family in terms of daily living. It is

defined by the class and standards of living of people or an individual. It is also

characterized by the resources and materials owned by one person.

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Third World Countries. Is a class of economically inferior nations (Caroline

Banton, 2019). These are also classified as the countries that are currently under

development or modernization but are still poor and still depend on wealthier countries.

Unmarried. Having no husband or wife (Wiktionary, 2019). This means that a

person is not yet engaged in this process.

Widowed. A person who is single because of death of the spouse (Princeton’s

WordNet). These are married people who lost their partner and are experiencing more

difficulties in managing their children and also their source of living.

Scopes and Delimitations of the Problem

This study primarily focuses on the life experiences of a single mother who

sustained her family by means of only having embroidery as the main source of income.

This study aims to analyze how a single parent managed to fulfill the needs of her family

with embroidery.

This research is limited to participants who are single parent embroiderers.

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CHAPTER 2

Related Theories

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory. “It is probably safe to say that the most well-

known theory of motivation is Maslow’s need hierarchy theory. Maslow’s theory is based

on the human needs. Drawing chiefly on his clinical experience, he classified all human

needs into a hierarchical manner from the lower to the higher order. He believed that

once a given level of need is satisfied, it no longer serves to motivate man. Then, the next

higher level of need must be activated in order to motivate the man” (Abraham Harold

Maslow, 1954).

The theory’s relevance to this study is to motivate people who experience poverty

and downfall especially families and single parents. The concept of turning one’s needs

into motivation turns and sets their goals into a new level. By doing this, one can see that

their goals and their needs correlates to each other. Once a person managed to turn their

needs into motivation, it will be easier for them to achieve and reach their goals in life.

Physiological Needs. “These needs are basic to human life and, hence, include

food, clothing, shelter, air, water and necessities of life. These needs relate to the survival

and maintenance of human life. They exert tremendous influence on human behavior.
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These needs are to be met first at least partly before higher level needs emerge”

(Abraham Harold Maslow, 1954).

Under Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory, this subtopic exists. The physiological

needs concept helps humans to understand that in order to survive and live longer, the

basic needs should be fulfilled. It will have a major impact in the humans’ behavior and

will lead them to higher level needs. This also brings up the idea that fulfilled basic

needs will make achieving goals in life much easier as humans will get satisfied by it and

will seek more satisfaction from it.

Esteem Needs. “These needs refer to self-esteem and self-respect. They include

such needs which indicate self-confidence, achievement, competence, knowledge and

independence. The fulfillment of esteem needs leads to self-confidence, strength and

capability of being useful in the organization. However, inability to fulfill these needs

results in feeling like inferiority, weakness and helplessness” (Abraham Harold Maslow,

1954).

Another subtopic for Maslow’s theory is the esteem needs concept. Unlike the

physiological needs, which refer to one’s physical needs, esteem needs refer to the

humans’ mental needs. As these needs cover the aspects such as self-esteem and self-

respect, which are very important for one person’s daily living, it must be fulfilled by

single parents so that managing their children will be an easier task for them.

The Bucket of Rocks Theory. “To properly manage time, one needs to know the

level of importance that each activity holds. The Bucket of Rocks theory (also referred to

as the Pickle Jar Theory) offers insight into the order in which a person should work on
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his activities. The theory proposes that you put big rocks in a bucket (this will represent

the important thing) and then you fill it up with pebbles followed by sand and then water.

The smaller substances represent increasingly unimportant tasks (Forsyth 2010).

According to this theory, we are supposed to do the important things (big stones) first and

then move on to the less important things (pebbles and sand) and finally if we have the

tie, we can do the unimportant things (water). If we begin working on the unimportant

things or the less important things first, we will not have the space to do the important

things in our lives” (Stephen Covey, 2002).

This theory explains the relevance of the study to the single parents who must

prioritize the things that they family must have first instead of the things that they only

want. It is stated that we need to invest first on our accommodations like the foods that a

family must have to survive a long and tiring day, the clothes that they need to wear

every day, and especially, they must send their children to school in order to provide the

proper education that will eventually help them to overcome poverty, struggle and

hindrances in their lives. After they have fulfilled all the things that their family must

have, it is the time for them to give attention to the things that they want. It is important

to manage one’s priorities instead of spending all your hard work and time to the things

that you do not necessarily need in your life.

Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT). “Elaborates the concept of evolved

psychological needs and their relations to psychological health and well-being. BPNT

argues that psychological well-being and optimal functioning is predicated on autonomy,

competence, and relatedness. Therefore, contexts that support versus thwart these needs

should invariantly impact wellness. The theory argues that all three needs are essential
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and that if any is thwarted there will be distinct functional costs. Because basic needs are

universal aspects of functioning, BPNT looks at cross-developmental and cross-cultural

settings for validation and refinements” (Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L., 2000).

This theory by Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L (2000) states that basic needs are

important to humans and is necessary for them to live. It focuses on one person’s

psychological health and their needs for it. Psychological needs under autonomy,

competence and relatedness are dependent to each other. This means that without the

fulfillment in one category, the psychological health of one person will lead to a

downfall. That is why all three aspects should be fulfilled and be maintained by the

person in order to have a good psychological health as these will lead to peace of mind

and the ability of one person to concentrate on reaching their goals.

Goal Contents Theory (GCT). “Grows out of the distinctions between intrinsic

and extrinsic goals and their impact on motivation and wellness. Goals are differentially

affording basic need satisfactions and are thus differentially associated with well-being.

Extrinsic goals such as financial success, appearance, and popularity/fame have been

specifically contrasted with intrinsic goals such as community, close relationships, and

personal growth, with the former more likely associated with lower wellness and greater

ill-being” (Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L., 2000).

Goals are the main reason why people choose to live and survive. Just like basic

needs, goals are very important to humans. It is the pinnacle of the human’s satisfactions

as these are what they aim for when going through challenges. It serves as the reward for

one person’s effort, patience, hard work and sacrifices. Once people understood their

goals, they will be able to face the challenges and struggles in life with a clear mindset of
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their goals and overcome it. In relation with this study, the goal of the single parents is to

give their family everything they needed. Single parents should be determined to strive

for their goals in life in order to uplift their state of living no matter how hard it is. Single

parents who have goals in life will think of their responsibilities first because they believe

that after all the struggles and challenges that they faced in their lives, in the end, it all got

to be worth enough for them.

Iceberg Theory of Success. “Every one of us can see the outcome of success and

the accomplishments. This is the visible part of the iceberg that floats majestically out of

the water. On the other hand, the efforts, what is necessary to achieve such an outcome,

remain hidden and unnoticed like the larger section of the iceberg that is beneath the

water line. Most of the people tend to only focus on the fabulous outcome and the

successes of others, rather than recognize the intangible effort. Achievements and success

often blind us so that we often are not even aware of the huge efforts that were necessary

to make these outcomes possible. Successes are defined by the hard work, failures,

determination, sacrifice, disappointment, good habits, and dedication put forth to make

success a possibility” (Ernest Hemingway, 1923).

Once a person is motivated and inspired in life, it will make it easier for them to

go through challenges, sacrifices, and pressure to achieve their life goals leading them to

success. This idea has been proven by the theory of Ernest Hemingway which is the

Iceberg Theory of Success. In order to be successful in life, one person should go through

challenges that is not seen by others. The challenges will be difficult, but the rewards will

be worth it. Overcoming these challenges requires exertion of hard work, patience, and

effort which can only be seen by the person who is facing it. And when the time comes,
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success will eventually be obtained and will be recognized by other people as the

person’s trophy for the achievement.

Review of Related Literatures

According to Dr. Kevin Leman (2005) from his book Single Parenting That

Works on page 12, “if you know your life priorities, it’s easier to decide what to do. If

one of your priorities is to advance your career in order to gain a higher income so you

and the kids can move into your own home, you will decide that sleep is much more

important than late-night flick. Why? Because that meeting is your chance to show your

supervisor that you’re a good brainstormer – and then she may decide to consider you for

the new position you’ve heard is in the works.”

From the book of “Poor Economics” (2011) by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo

on page 1, “this urge to reduce the poor to a set of clichés has been with us for as long as

there has been poverty: The poor appear, in social theory as much as in literature, by

turns lazy or enterprising, noble or thievish, angry or passive, helpless or self-sufficient.”

From the book of “The Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Competencies of

Principals” (2003) by Cristobal, “

Review of Related Studies

According to the study of Mugove (2017), “Challenges Encountered by a Single

Parents in the learning and development of Children, their findings revealed that because

of low education, most single parents are not gainfully employed resulting in them being
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unable to provide all the needs of their children. It also showed that in most instances,

single parents had no time to supervise their children’s homework and such because they

are working with extra effort to get some money to provide for the family. The study also

conclude that solo parent faced challenges in paying the school fees for their children

because they are unemployed or if they were employed, they were involved in lowly paid

jobs. Also, mostly of children from single parents had behavior problems because their

guardian had problems in monitoring the behavior of their children due to their schedule

in work.”

Mugove (2017) clearly stated the struggles faced by a single parent. It shows that

their position is not a joke as they stand not just a mother but also a father at the same

time. It is indeed true that due to their work, it consumed their time and resulting to

unable to assess and have bond with their children. It is proven that parents will do

anything just to see their children happy and fine even if it will give them a hard time

because they are trying to double their income to support all the needs of their family that

they supporting alone. But the most inspiring from this situation is that despite of their

busy schedule, they are still trying to supervise and assess their children. Yet, the

situation wherein their child must guide themselves alone cannot be avoided. It is one of

the reason why many cases of children of single-parents have a problem about their

attitude and behaviors, while there are also children that in early age understand the hard

situation and helped their parent just by being a good child and a student.

According to Weldegabreal (2014) “the impact of raising a child as a single

parent is dual directional; the impact is both on the children and their single mothers. For

an instance, single mothers tend to suffer from feeling of guilty, shame, resentment, anger
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and anxiety about the future. The most important findings are also that the children of a

single parent do understand these challenges and have developed outlooks to their parent

expressed with comments like “she is raising me like both mother and father,” and so on.

In addition, single parent or mostly single mothers also tend to disengage from family

and friends, not taking the time to maintain old relationships or to build new supportive

ones. Single mothers in the study reported that they wished their children would have a

healthy relationship, self-dependent so that they may not have to suffer like them and

would not follow in their trend. Also, although their parent allowed them to make their

own choices in relationships, children of single parent families wanted to have a long-

lasting relationship”

Being a solo parent is definitely a hard situation because there are many reasons

why a family is incomplete; maybe it’s a choice or the situation gave it. And that’s why

the study of Rahel Weldegabreal reveals the hardships and sufferings of a single parent.

They feel guilty because as their child grew up, they will surely find care from a missing

parent or the other half of the parent caring them. But, the most important thing is when

their children fully understand the situation and thankful for all the hardships their solo

parent does. And because of the situation, single parents don’t want their children to be

on their situation on the near future, as they are trying to persuade their child to engage

and socialize with other people. It is not confusing that their child wanted a true and long-

lasting relationship because they witnessed the tough journey their solo parent had faced.

Single parents aim nothing but the success and happiness of their children. Truly, a

parent’s love, particularly a mother’s love will be the sweetest give a person will ever

receive.
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According to Jagtap and Larsson (2013), “Whilst income, a quantifiable is an

important dimension of poverty, other qualitative aspects of poverty, are also mentioned

in many studies. Poverty in terms of social, political and cultural exclusion, in terms of

little or no access to basic services, such as education, safe drinking water, public health,

infrastructure, sanitation and security, and also in terms of absence of resources required

to fulfil basic needs, such as food, clothing and shelter.”

Poverty is one of the major problems of our society that is difficult to solve

due to the increasing population. For a person experiencing poverty they have many

problems that encounter, and they have struggles to get up because they are not getting

enough help from the government or sometimes due to lack of knowledge they remain in

their situation. People who experiencing poverty with no shelter were just wandering on

the road to the point that all the place feel unsafe for them because of the people with bad

intension. This situation is harmful for the children especially when it comes to their

health. One of the reasons were many children was not able to go to school because of the

said situation. And in order to survive, they find job instead on going to school and learn.

Because of poverty, all their income was for what are the significant things they need and

not on what they want. Some of them were downgrading themselves because of their

situation and because of that poverty is one of the hindrances for the betterment.

Historically, the study of Ravallion (2015) proved that “poverty is a result of

poor people’s “dissolute behaviors” such as having many children, idleness, or bad

spending choices, for example; excessive consumptions of alcohol. From this argument,

one can suggest that a change of a behavior ca eradicate poverty. However, the recently

adopted outlook is that poverty reflects public and uncorrected market failures.”
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The behavior of people was a possible reason of poverty. One of the reasons

of poverty is that many people doesn’t have any knowledge about family planning, and

the result is they have many children and financial needs will be their main problem. A

family suffering from poverty doesn’t have an ability to give their basic needs due to lack

of money, experience and knowledge to find job. On the other hand, if they have job,

their income was still not enough. Yet, despite of their situation, majority of poor people

are contented on what they have and not aiming for much better but still reaching for

better situation. Parents will definitely be dreaming for a better future for their child, so

they will not experience what their situation is right now.

Based on the study of Singh (2011), “one of the most important factors that lead

one to their goals is the drive; motivation. It is a zest and determination with a kind of

excitement that leads one to persevere to reach greater heights, in no matter what avenue

of their life; be it- personal and professional. Motivation is the activation of goal-oriented

behavior. There are people who redefine their goals and ambitions from time to time in

order to fill them with newer level of enthusiasm to achieve greater feats. One needs to

take stalk every now and then and find the motivator required to carry them through.”

Everyone strives for what they want even that they will be faced lot of struggles

along the way. Consistency, passion, determination, persistence are the recipes for the

triumph. But, the reason behind your strengths and persistence is one of the reasons why

you are still fighting; motivation. Family, friends, God. Your motivation awakens your

passion to keep on fighting even that you will be wounded at the end of the journey as

long as success will meet your way. That’s why the study of Singh emphasized that every

person has a goal and their plans to reach that specific goal is more intense each day
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passed. It is indeed true that all the things we do with hard work will be all worth it at the

end.

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework

SINGLE PARENT EMBROIDERESS

HINDRANCES MOTIVATIONS

POVERTY MONEY TIME

FAMILY GOD GOALS
STRESS PRESSURE

SUCCESS

EXPLANATION ABOUT THIS~~

Assumptions of the Study

This study assumes that single parents can still manage and fulfill the needs of

their family even without the help or the presence of their partner. People with low source

of income, such as embroiderers, can still be successful in life no matter how low the
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income that they receive. Poverty is not a hindrance for a family to live a better life and

to be successful in the near future.