Abstract:
The importance of family as the fundamental unit of society is recognized by the Philippine Constitution. From this recognition has sprung various laws and legal instruments protecting the family and promoting the well-being of its members. Underlying most legislation on the family is the assumption that well-functioning and happy families constitute the necessary foundation for social stability, economic progress and development (PPGD). Health families can help reduce social problems and raise socio-cultural, ethical and moral standards by providing for the material and psychosocial eeds of society's members, transmitting necessary societal values of respect, peace, democracy and equality, and caring for children, the elderly and the people with disability (NCRFW, 1995). Modernization and development processes have been reshaping Filipino families and households. In response to broader socio-economic and demographic changes, Filipino families have become smaller in size and more nuclear in composition and organization. In turn, these changes have led to changes in the relationships among family members, and in the roles and responsibilities of adults and children and of men and women within the family unit. Women's changing roles in particular have important consequences for families and households. Filipino women are marrying at later ages and opting to have fewer children, thus, their labor force participation has increased. (Honculada and Onofreo, 1998). [Introduction]
