Short answer. Yes. An unmarried mother who has preferred to keep and rear her child rather than have others care for the child or give the child up is a solo parent under the law. The statute in force today is the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act, Republic Act No. 11861 (2022).
What the law says
Unmarried mother/father who has preferred to keep and rear her/his child/children instead of having others care for them or give them up to a welfare institution
RA 8972, Section 3 — Who Counts As Solo Parent. Read the full provision →
The choice to keep and rear the child
The solo-parent law expressly includes an unmarried mother or father who has preferred to keep and rear her or his child instead of having others care for them or give them up to a welfare institution. The status does not depend on ever having been married; what it turns on is the decision to take on the child's upbringing personally. An unmarried mother who chooses to raise her child herself, rather than surrendering the child to relatives to raise or to a welfare institution, comes within this category. The law recognises that she is carrying the responsibility of parenthood alone, and it extends the same protection it gives to parents left single by death, separation or other causes.
It applies to unmarried fathers too
Worth noting is that this category is written in gender-neutral terms — unmarried mother/father. An unmarried father who has likewise chosen to keep and rear his child, rather than give the child up, qualifies on the same footing. The point of the provision is the assumption of sole parental responsibility outside marriage, whichever parent makes that choice. So while the question is framed around an unmarried mother, the same reasoning and the same statutory language protect an unmarried father in the equivalent situation. What the law rewards is the deliberate undertaking to raise one's own child alone.
The current law: RA 11861
This definition comes from Republic Act No. 8972, but the governing statute today is Republic Act No. 11861 (2022), the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act. RA 11861 broadened who counts as a solo parent, eased the length-of-service requirement for parental leave, and added benefits — including a discount and value-added tax exemption on certain purchases for the child — that the earlier text does not contain. An unmarried parent should read the older wording as the floor of the entitlements and consult RA 11861 and its implementing rules for the current, wider qualifying grounds and the full set of benefits now available.
Getting recognised, and what it does not cover
The status is claimed and evidenced, usually through a Solo Parent Identification Card issued by the local social welfare office, which unlocks the parental leave, discounts and other support. Eligibility also depends on caring for qualifying children — broadly, dependent, unmarried, unemployed children not over eighteen, or older if incapable of self-support due to disability — and a change of circumstance that leaves the parent no longer solely responsible can end the benefits. Being a solo parent is separate from questions of the child's status, support from the other parent, or custody, which are governed by other laws. This general information cannot confirm your exact entitlements, so approach your local social welfare office and seek advice where needed.