Exploring Parental Expectations on Children Helping Parents out in Lower Middle-Income Families

Abstract

Helping parents out is the top priority of Filipino youth. Helping out is the act of children giving services or resources to make it easier for parents to support the family. The objective of this study is to determine what are the expectations of parents from lower middle-income families regarding the idea of children helping out their parents. This study also aims to know how parents identify a child who is capable of helping, what are the reasons why children will help their family out, and what kind of support they will provide. To attain the purpose of the study, exploratory research was conducted. Parents with two or more children belonging to the lower middle-income class residing in NCR, Region III, and Region IV-A served as this study’s participants. Using thematic analysis, the findings revealed that helping out is a non-obligatory practice. Children must first have a number of essential characteristics before being classified as a child capable of helping out. Parents also outlined various reasons and means by which children will help out. This study may offer a new framework for understanding how helping out parents is perceived by Filipinos in the current times.