A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Single Parents during the Pandemic

Abstract

The surge of the CoronaVirus (COVID-19) all over the world adversely affected all individuals, including single parents who belong to vulnerable groups. This study aimed to understand the lived experiences of single parents and describe their challenges during the pandemic. This study was done in the Philippines specifically in Eastern Visayas region 8 Tacloban City. The study utilized qualitative phenomenological research or descriptive phenomenology. Its purpose is to understand the lived experiences faced by single parents and describe the challenges they had encountered during the pandemic. The sampling method used in this study was a non-probability sampling. Precisely, it utilized a purposive sampling technique in which the researchers choose participants grounded on the criterion. The researchers openly used an inclusion criterion for selecting the participants. They must be (1) A single parent, (2) Employed or unemployed, (3) Living within the vicinity of Tacloban City, Philippines, and (4) 40-65 years old. The instrument used was in-depth interview method to collect data. The researchers chose semi-structured interviews, wherein the researchers ask an open-ended question to the chosen participants. The data was collected through a face-to-face interview by following the safety protocols during the interview. Moreover, the researchers initially gave an informed consent to the single parents to enlighten them about their participation in the study. Furthermore, the findings revealed two themes in our study: economic challenges and socio-psychological. Economic challenges were the common difficulties of while socio-psychological revealed as the coping strategies of single parents. Additionally, the researchers had three recommendations for further research for the future researchers, (1) to conduct a similar study in a different locale with a larger sample size, (2) different age group, and (3) and expand the target population that includes other genders which is also a single parent.