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Role of Working and Non-Working Mothers Of Their School Children

Activities
Enverso, April Jo G.
Ristadio, Crisel Ann O.
I. Introduction
Throughout history women have been regarded as the weaker gender,
both physically and intellectually. Over gradually entered workforce and have
gained increasingly prestigious positions. Children with working mothers are
usually placed in group childcare, which results in them receiving less one-on-
one attention and instruction. Mothers entering the workforce might also have a
positive effect on children.
Home is the best school and parents are the ideal teachers of their own
children. It is the best venue for education because it is where children actually
learn and live the lessons of life. Much of the tasks of educating the children at
home are often within the domain of the mother, although it remains to be the
duty of both parents. However, during the early months and years of the child, it
is the mother who spends more time monitoring his entire growth. It is said that
the mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.
Dual-earning families are able to provide much more for their children.
Working mothers in the study felt that they were helping to meet the needs of
their families by providing financially, but that on occasion their family
relationships did suffer as a result of their employment. At times working had a
negative impact on their children because after work mothers were sometimes
too tired to interact as much with children as the children would have liked.
Unlike non-working mothers they can focused on how their children grow up.
They can teach their children if what is good and bad things and they can also
sustained the time needs or activities of their children.
Working sometimes got in the way of completing activities with children
that mothers and children would have liked to do homemakers felt that being a
mother was their most important life role. Regardless of hours worked, children
of mothers who worked reported less discipline from their mothers than those
whose mothers did not work outside the home.
II. Statement of the problem
This study determined the role of working and non-working mothers
as tutors, mentors, and providers to the activities of their school children.
Specially, this study answered the following questions:
1. What are the socio-demographic characteristics of the mothers in
terms of?
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1.1 Age
1.2 Educational attainment
1.3 Number of children
1.4 Monthly family income
2. To what extent do working and non-working mothers perform
their role as?
2.1 Tutor
2.2 Mentor
2.3 Provider
3. Is there a significant relationship between the socio-
demographic characteristics of mothers and their role as tutor,
mentor and provider to their school children?
4. Is there significant difference between working and non-working
with respect to their role as tutor, mentor and provider?
III. Methodology
This chapter presents the research design, research respondents, sampling
design, research instruments, and validation of the research instruments, data
gathering procedure, method of analysis and statistical treatment that were
interpreted as used in this study.
Research Design
The descriptive correlation method of research was used in this study. This
research is applicable in big sample or large population. It is used an instrument
to generate data prepared by the researcher. The survey questionnaire was
used as the main instrument to gather data. The survey questionnaire focused
on the following identified variables: (1) Socio-demographic characteristics (age,
educational attainment, no. of children, and monthly family income) and (2) role
of the respondents to their school children as tutor, mentor, and provider.
Moreover, the variables were subjected to appropriate statistical tools in order to
determine significant relationship between the respondents’ socio-demographic
characteristics and their role as tutor, mentor, and provider. The different
statistical treatments used were the Weighted, Mean, Percentage, Frequency
Distribution, and Pearson Moment correlation Coefficient, Eta Correlation and T-
test for Independent Samples.
Research Respondents
The experience of raising young children is changing dramatically
these days. Despite the many other changes that have occurred in the family, it
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is believed that parents especially the mothers have primary responsibility to

their children, regardless of whether they are working mothers or non-working
mothers. With this dilemma, the researchers were encouraged to conduct this
study. This study was conducted to determine the role of working and non-
working mothers in their school children.
Since one of the researchers is a resident of Matalom, Leyte, they
conducted their research in her hometown. This would make their research
locale easier to familiarize and also easy access to the research respondents.
The respondents employed in this study were the working and non-working
Mothers in Matalom, Leyte, and those mothers that have elementary grades
children. There were 111 working mother respondents and 115 non-working
mothers.
Hence, there were a total of 226 mother respondents.
Stratified simple random sampling was used in determining the mother
respondent. The first stage of sampling was the selection in each grade level.
The desired section was drawn by picking from a fish bowl a small piece of
paper indicating the grade level section. The second stage of sampling was
done by going to the different sample sections and asking pupils how many had
mothers who are working and not working. After determining how many were
working and non-working mothers, the researchers personally distributed the
questionnaires to the selected respondents. The respondents were asked to
filled-up the questionnaire to the best of their ability and with all honesty too, in
order to come up with valid and reliable data. All responses were held with
strict confidence. Lastly, the questionnaires were collected by the researchers
for tabulation and analysis.
Research instruments
A researcher’s structured questionnaire was used in gathering data
needed in the study. The questionnaire was composed off two parts. Part I is on
the socio-demographic characteristics of working and non-working mothers. This
includes the age, educational attainment, number of children and monthly family
income. Part II focuses on the role of the respondents as tutor, mentor, and
provider to their school children. Respondents were asked to check the number
of corresponds to their role as tutor, mentor, and providers.
Validation of the Research instruments
Before the questionnaires were finally utilized, the researchers
conducted first dry a dry-run. This dry-run was necessary to identify items that
needed improvement. It was conducted during the Christmas break to the
selected working and non-working mothers of pupils in Kapangian Elementary
School.
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After the dry-run, the researchers used the context validation in order to
know if there is a need of revisions in the questionnaire. Thus, the results served
as the basis to improve and finalize the research instrument.
Data Gathering Procedure
Before the conduct of the study, the researchers sought permission from
the head teachers of the school.
The researchers personally distributed the questionnaire to the
respondents. The researchers retrieved the questionnaires from the
respondents to ensure hundred percent participation and retrieval.
Method Analysis
The data gathered were tabulated, treated statistically and interpreted. It
was carefully done to arrive at a clear presentation and analysis of the research
findings.
For purpose of quantifying and analyzing the data gathered, the coding
with the corresponding adjectival description was adopted.
The respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics were scored in the
following manner:
Age. This will be classified into three, to wit:
Range Description

51 and above Above middle age

41-51 Middle age

31-40 Young adult

30 and below Young

Educational attainment. This refers to the highest educational level

of the respondents. The arbitrary points are follows:
Category Code

College Graduate 6

College Level 5

Secondary Graduate 4

Secondary level 3
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Elementary Graduate 2

Elementary Level 1

Number of children. This is classified into three:

Range Description

7 and above Big

4-6 Averange

3 and below Small

Monthly Family income.(Source NSCB) this is refers to the

monthly salary the respondents are receiving. This is classified into three
groups:
Classification Description

13,920 and above Above poverty line

13,919 Poverty line

13,918 and below Below poverty line

For the role of the respondents to the activities of their school

children, an arbitrary scale was used. For interpretation, the scores were
checked against a set of criteria.

Mean range Description

4.51-5.00 Highly Involved

3.51-4.50 Involved

2.51-3.50 Moderately

1.51-2.50 Slightly Involved

1.00-1.50 Never involved

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The interpretation of the values of r is presented below as

suggested by Best and khan (1989).
Coefficient Interpretation

0.91-1.00 Very high

0.81-0.91 High

0.61-0.80 Substantial

0.41-0.60 Moderate

0.21-0.40 Low

0.00-0.20 Very low

Statistical treatment
The data gathered were subjected to the different statistical
treatments in order to answer research problems and to test the null hypothesis
postulated in this study.
The responses of the respondents were categorized by tabulating
them according to the nature of the specific questions asked. The profile of the
respondents was concentrated on the age, educational attainment, number of
children and monthly family income. Frequencies and percentages were used to
determine each variable. The following formula was used:
𝐹
𝑃 = 𝑁 × 100

Where
P=percent
F= frequency
N= number of cases/total number of respondents
100= constant
To get the weighted mean for the role of mothers as tutor, mentor, and
provider, the formula below was used.
∑ 𝑓𝑥
𝑥̅ = 𝑁
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Where:

𝑥̅ = 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚

X= score
N= number of cases
For age and number of children, the Pearson product Moment
Correlation Coefficient was used. The formula follows (Walpole, 1982)
𝑟𝑥𝑦= 𝑛 ∑ 𝑥𝑦−(∑ 𝑥)(∑ 𝑦)

√[𝑛 ∑ 𝑥2 ]−(∑ 𝑥)2 [𝑛 ∑ 𝑦2 −(∑ 𝑦)2 ]

Where:
n= no. Of paired observations
∑ 𝑥𝑦 = 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦

∑ 𝑥 2 = 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑥

∑ 𝑦 2 = 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑦

∑ 𝑥 = 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑥

∑ 𝑦 = 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑦

For educational attainment and monthly family income, the Eta

Correlation Coefficient was used. The formula is:

𝑆𝑆
𝑛 = √ 𝑆𝑆𝑏
𝑡

Where:

𝑆𝑆𝑏 = 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒

𝑆𝑆𝑡 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒

Since n correlation is obtained by solving a One Way Analysis of
Variance (ANOVA), the following formulas were applied:
Step 1. Sum of Square Total:
(∑ 𝑥)2
𝑆𝑆𝑡 = ∑ 𝑥 = 𝑁

Step 2. Sum of squares Between:

(∑ 𝑥1 )2 (∑ 𝑥2 )2 (∑ 𝑥𝑛 )2 (∑ 𝑥)2
𝑆𝑆𝑏 = + +⋯ −
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑁
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Step 3. Sum of Squares Within:

𝑆𝑆𝑤 = 𝑆𝑆𝑇 − 𝑆𝑆𝐵

Step 4. Mean Squares Within:
𝐵 𝑆𝑆
𝑀𝑆𝐵 = 𝑑.𝑓.𝑏

Step 5. Mean Squares Within:

𝑤𝑆𝑆
𝑀𝑆𝑤 = 𝑑.𝑓.𝑏

Degrees of freedom
d. f. w. = N-k
d. f. d = k-1 an important role in testing
Where:
N= total sample size
K= number of groups
Step 6. F-test
Being the last step in solving ANOVA, F-test played an important role in
testing the significance of eta. If the F-test is significant, eta is also significant.
The Formula is:
𝑀𝑆
𝐹 = 𝑀𝑆𝐵
𝑤

ANOVA TABLE
ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE FOR ONE- WAY CLASSIFICATION

Source Sum of Degrees of Means square Computed

of Squares Freedom
Variation F
Treatment SSA k-1 MSA=SSA/k-1 MSA/MSE
Error SSE k(n-1) MSE=SSE/k(n-
1)
TOTAL SST nk-1
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To find out the significant difference between working and non-working mothers
with respect to their role as tutor, mentor, and provider, the t-test for
independent samples was used:
(𝑥̅ 1 −𝑥̅ 2 )−𝑑0
𝑡= 1 1
𝑆𝑝 √ +
𝑛1 𝑛2

Pooled Variance:
(𝑛1 −1)𝑆12 +(𝑛2 −2)𝑆22
𝑆𝑝2 = 𝑛1 +𝑛2 −2

Where:

𝑥̅1 = 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝

𝑥̅2 = 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝

𝑛1 = 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝

𝑛2 = 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝

𝑆12 = 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 first group

𝑆22 = sample variance of the second group

The degrees of freedom: 𝑑𝑓 = 𝑛1 + 𝑛2 − 2

To accept or reject null hypothesis, the level of significance was set at
0.05%.
IV. Findings of the study
Socio-Demographic of the Respondents.
Age. The highest percent of the respondents belong to the age bracket 31-
40 years old, with a total of 50.4% with 54 were working mothers and 60 were
non-working mothers. The lowest number of respondents had a frequency of
fourteen (14) or 6.2 percent that belong to the age bracket 51 and above with 9
non-working mothers and 5 working mothers.
Educational Attainment. The lowest number of respondents had a
frequency of eighteen (18) or 8 percent of the mothers that belong to the
elementary level with 13 non-working mothers and 5 working mothers. High with
fifty (50)or 22.1 percent, with27 non-working mothers and 23 working mothers
and fifty (50) or 22.1 percent with 22 non-working mothers and 28 working
mothers, respectively.
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Number of children. One- hundred thirty one (131) or 58 percent have 3 and
below children with 58 non-working mothers and 72 working mothers.
Sixteen (16) or 7 percent have children of 7 and above with 11 non-working
mothers and 6 working mothers.
Monthly family Income. The data revealed that an overall total of 195
respondents have a family income of 13,918 and below poverty line. There were
15 working mothers and 5 non-working mothers that belong to the 13, 920 and
above bracket with an overall total of 20 which belongs to the above poverty
line. Most of the respondents belong to the below poverty line.
Role of mother as a tutor. The data shows an overall mean of 3.3 with
mother’s role as a tutor is described as “moderately involved”. Statements
“Teaches them how to read” and “Helps in making assignments” got the highest
weighted mean of3.8, described as “involved”. The statement “ Lets them read
one story every night” followed by “ Uses a more complicated vocabulary terms”
2.8,described as “moderately involved”.
Role of mother as a Mentor. The data shows that the statement “lets
them go to school every day” got the highest weighted mean of 4.7 and is
described as “highly involved” followed by the statement “ Teaches them right
manners and right conducts” with a weighted mean of 4.6, described as ‘highly
involved”. The statement “Gives them a reward when they have awards in
school” got the lowest weighted mean of 3.7 and “Encourages them to recite in
their discussions” has the second lowest weighted mean of 4.0, described as
“involved”.
Role of the mother as a Provider. The data shows that statements
“provides them new school materials every start of the year” and “provides them
necessary materials for school projects” got the highest weighted mean of 4.4,
described as “moderately involved.” The overall mean is 3.9, described as
“involved”.
Relationship between Respondents’ Socio-Demographic
characteristics and their Role to the school Children as Tutor, mentor and
Provider
It can be seen from the result that the variables age, educational
attainment, number of children, and monthly family income and their role as a
tutor yielded a significant result, with a p-value of 0.001, 0.002, 0.001, and
0.005,respectively.this further show that the respondents’ socio-demographic
characteristic is related to the role of the mother as a tutor.
As shown in the result, age, educational attainment, number of children and
monthly family income and their role as a mentor yielded a significant result, with
a p-value of 0.008, 0.000, and 0.005 respectively. This indicates and monthly
family incomes are all related to the role of the mother as a mentor.
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The data shows that the variables age, educational attainment, number of
children and monthly family income and their role as provider were found to be
significant, with p-value of 0.003, 0.000, and 0.000, respectively. This further
show that the variables mentioned are all related to the role of the mother as a
provider.
Difference between Working and Non-Working Mothers with Respect to
their Role as Tutor, Mentor and Provider
The result shows that the difference between working and non-working
mothers with respect to their role as tutor, mentor and provider were not
significant with t-computed values of -0.172, 0.474 and -0.561., with a t-value of
0.864, 0.636 and 0.576, respectively. Therefore, the null hypothesis that there
was no significant difference between working and non-working mothers with
respect to their role as tutor, mentor and provider is not rejected at 5% level of
significance.
This means that the role of working mothers as tutor, mentor and
provider does not differ from those of the non-working mothers.
V. CRITISM
I strongly agree with the different statistical treatment that the
researchers used to determine the data to be collected; such as Frequencies
and Percentages to determine each variable; Weighted Mean for the role of
mothers as tutor, mentor, and provider; Pearson Product Moment Correlation
Coefficient for age and number of children; Eta Correlation for educational
attainment and monthly income; One Ways Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and
T-test Independent Sample to find out the significant difference between working
and non- working mothers.