The Challenges of Parenting in time of COVID-19 in Laguna, Dumaguete City and their implications to

Social Work Practice

Person 1 Person 2 Person 3 Person 4

Age 33 40 37 29
Sex F F M F
No. of Children 3 4 2 2
Age/s & if 21 (W)
11 (S)
S(student)/W(working)
8 (S) 7 (S)
/ T(toddler) 19 (W)
9 (S)
6 (S) 4 (T)
17 (S)
5 (T)
16 (S)
Working economically Yes Yes Yes Yes
Street Vendor
(cooking and
Nurse Carinderia Helper Architect
Occupation selling banana
cue)
Average family income
P36,000 P15,000 P55,000 P6,000
per month
Average family
P30,000 P15,000 P30,000 P 6,000
expenses per month
Place (renting/own the
Living with
house/living with Renting Renting Own the house
parents
parents)

Chapter IV. Data Analysis, Results, and Discussions

I. Demographic Profile

There are four respondents in total and out of the four respondents, 3 are women and 1 man

whose ages are from 29-40. They all work economically where 2 of them are in formal work

while the other 2 are informal works. All of them has children, 8 are students, 2 are working and

1 is still in their under-school age. 2 are renting, 1 owned the house and 1 live with their parents.

Their average family income per month is from P6,000.00-36,000.00 while their average family

expenses per month are from P6,000.00-P30,000.00 having 2 respondents in P30,000.00. They

all manage to supply the needs of their family.

II. Qualitative Data Summary

The Challenges of Parenting in time of COVID-19 in Laguna, Dumaguete City and their implications to
Social Work Practice

1. What are the problems you have encountered during the pandemic?

From the data we have gathered the problem encountered by the parents during this

pandemic are, limitation to travel locally especially for the senior citizens, decrease of

their salary and increase of inflation that gives the parent hard time paying for the rent of

the house, salary for helper, and bills, low generating income because there is only a few

who buys their products, and the parent doesn’t have a permanent job.

2. What effect(s) did they have to your parenting?

On what the four (4) respondents shared about the effects of the problems encountered

during the health crisis experienced today, the main effect of this to their parenting is

them becoming strict especially in terms of their children's freedom to go outside of the

house. In addition, it has found out that the majority of their answers are mainly

concerning about the threat of the virus. Thus, the parents are getting anxious about their

kids being in contact or will be exposed by the said virus.

The other raising issues and concern of the parents that have been commonly shared by

them is in regards with their child’s EDUCATION. The majority of their children are

enrolled in online class and modular, some may have the access of the internet and have

the computers, and unfortunately some may not. The other raising concern of the parents

would be the health of their children, because they are on online class meaning they’re

spending so much time in using computers and they’re afraid that it could damage their

children’s eyesight. In relation to online class, it is given that a child would use a

computer or will expose to World Wide Web, a parent shared one of his experience that
The Challenges of Parenting in time of COVID-19 in Laguna, Dumaguete City and their implications to
Social Work Practice

he caught one of his eldest son where he accessed from the internet which is not supposed

to be for children, because of that it makes them uneasy because their child could access

to some videos that is not related to studies nor to its age. In addition, the other raising

concern of the parent’s that is related to their child’s education would be their children’s

attitude towards their study because their child seems not so serious about it, and even

prioritizing the things that is not related in studies, as a result it makes them frustrated

because the child is very outgoing and tend not to finish his school works.

The other concern of the parents would be their child’s bad attitude, one of the parents

shared that his 17 years old son is very stubborn, not even helping in their household

chores and tend to be an outgoing person instead of staying at home. With that being said,

it raised a concern on the side of the parent in question because she is afraid that their

child will get influenced, for instance, by people who engages into substance abuse.

3. What parenting challenges did you encounter?

From the data that we have gathered, we have seen that parents are not just experiencing

work stress but also parenting stress. Their common answers are that their children

become hard headed, disobedient and lack of face-to-face interaction. Due to the online

setting, they said that it is challenging for them as parents especially in controlling the

activities of their children. They sometimes use online classes as an excuse to go to the

internet café and play games or browse social media. The parents are also worried about

the fact that social media might show inappropriate images or videos that their children

are not allowed to see.

The Challenges of Parenting in time of COVID-19 in Laguna, Dumaguete City and their implications to
Social Work Practice

4. How did you cope up with the problem?

According to the respondents about their problems as parenthood on how they cope

during these times of pandemic, most of them have common answers that they did their

best as parents even though their children became hard headed. Two parents shared that it

is helpful having an elder brother or sister at home to supervise their children who were

left at home. In these hard times teamwork is much needed within their families.

Anyhow, they still try their best to emerge stronger for their children.

5. Do you know of any programs that could help you as a parent during this time?

Our survey shows how most individuals who partook in the question "Do you know of

any programs that could help you as a parent during this time?" believed that there was

little to no trace of government efforts to aid parents in this pandemic. This shows how

parents had little to no awareness of the different government incentives that play a huge

role in this pandemic. Probably in this instance, they couldn't pinpoint government efforts

that focus on parents since there are different programs and affiliations that the

government prioritizes more—things such as livelihood programs, Frontline assistance,

and COVID-19 rescue funds. Secondly, there was also a concern on the closing of day-

care centers which are crucial for mothers in their nursing stage. One respondent attest

how she couldn't see visceral traces of the government providing assistance to the mother

since there were no day-care centers that were readily available for them to use. This goes

to show how it is essential to keep services that assists parental care for their children.
The Challenges of Parenting in time of COVID-19 in Laguna, Dumaguete City and their implications to
Social Work Practice

Out of the four respondents, all of them had their own version of conceding the absence

of the government in terms of parental supervision. Out of pure frustration and confusion,

these parents believed that there were no external efforts to provide them with necessities

a parent would need in this pandemic. A government’s assistance is ultimately essential

in times where livelihood systems and functions of commerce are heavily disrupted.

These individuals are in dire need of support since their basic needs have been hampered

by this pandemic. Things such as day-care centers, tuition fee cuts, and price decreases

are viable government projects to support these people as they survive throughout this

pandemic.

5. What do you think should the government do to help you as a parent?

When it comes to the efforts of the government in intervening on parental direction, there

is a recurring request for the state to extend different forms of help and benefits to our

respondents. Firstly, on the education sector. The certainty of our citizens losing some of

their financial foothold in the time of this pandemic is inevitable. Characterized by

minimum wages and the inability to support essential functions and needs, it would be

reasonable enough for these respondents to demand increased government funds and

incentives. Because of the online platform our children's education is being supplied in,

there is a call for help from these respondents to provide the technological needs of their

kids as they take part in distance learning—things such as a stable wireless fidelity

connection and access to devices that could aid them in such. Secondly, apart from the

learning devices, parents opt to request government funding in the form of "ayuda" or

cash incentives and tax exemptions that can help them accommodate their household

needs. This marginal excess of money can serve a massive difference for people unable
The Challenges of Parenting in time of COVID-19 in Laguna, Dumaguete City and their implications to
Social Work Practice

to place food on the table three times a day due to this pandemic. Our surveys show that

apart from their initial occupation, most of our families are hugely dependent on

government efforts to keep them afloat in this time of need. Their requests command the

government to be more reactive in this time of need. Lastly, some of our respondents also

ask for government help by providing teaching personnel that could keep our children off

the street. Despite the distance learning platform right now, one parent quotes, "We need

to keep our children off the street to avoid virus transmission by introducing teaching

personnel that can still assist the children with his educational needs and guidance."

Overall, these are the ranges of their requests from the question, "What can the

government do to help parents."

Answers:

1. Wifi assistance

2. Tax exemption or cut

3. Teaching personnels to keep children off the street

4. Cash incentives and assistance