The idea of Fathers Day was conceived slightly more than a century
ago by Sonora Dodd of Spokane Wash. while she listened to a Mothers Day sermon in 1909. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father William Smart a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm.
A day in June was chosen for the first Fathers Day celebration -- 100 years ago June 19 1910 proclaimed by Spokanes mayor because it was the month of Smarts birth.
The first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Fathers Day.
Fathers Day has been celebrated annually since 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed the public law that made it permanent.
How Many Fathers?
67.8 million
Estimated number of fathers across the nation.
Source: Unpublished data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation
25.8 million
Number of fathers who were part of married-couple families with children younger than 18 in 2009.
- 22 percent were raising three or more children younger than 18 (among married-couple family households only).
- 3 percent lived in someone elses home.
Source: Americas Families and Living Arrangements
1.7 million
Number of single fathers in 2009; 15 percent of single parents were men.
- 8 percent were raising three or more children younger than 18.
- About 47 percent were divorced 29 percent were never married 18 percent were separated and 5 percent were widowed.
- 44 percent had an annual family income of $50000 or more.
Source: Americas Families and Living Arrangements
85
Among the 30.2 million fathers living with children younger than 18 the percentage who lived with their biological children only. In addition 11 percent lived with stepchildren 4 percent with adopted children and fewer than 1 percent with foster children.
Source: Living Arrangements of Children: 2004
Thinking of You Dad
8610
The number of mens clothing stores around the country (as of 2007) a good place to buy dad a tie or shirt.
14193
The number of hardware stores (as of 2007) a place to buy hammers wrenches screwdrivers and other items high on the list of Fathers Day gifts. Additionally there were 7150 home centers across the country in 2007.
23756
Number of sporting goods stores in 2007. These stores are good places to purchase traditional gifts for dad such as fishing rods and golf clubs.
Source: County Business Patterns
76 million
The number of Americans who participated in a barbecue in the last year its probably safe to assume many of these barbecues took place on Fathers Day.
Source: Mediamark Research & Intelligence as cited in the Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010 Table 1203
Mr. Mom
158000
Estimated number of stay-at-home dads in 2009. These married fathers with children younger than 15 have remained out of the labor force for at least one year primarily so they can care for the family while their wives work outside the home. These fathers cared for 290000 children. Among these stay-at-home dads 59 percent had two or more children and 57 percent had an annual family income of $50000 or more.
Source: Americas Families and Living Arrangements
24
Among the nations 11.2 million preschoolers whose mothers are employed the percentage who are regularly cared for by their father during their mothers
working hours. This amounted to 2.7 million children.
Source: Whos Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Spring 2006
Child-Support Payments
$2.8 billion
Amount of child support received by custodial fathers in 2007; they were due $4.3 billion. In contrast custodial mothers received $18.6 billion of the $29.8 billion in support that was due.
45
Percentage of custodial fathers who received all child support that was due in 2007 not significantly different from the corresponding percentage for custodial mothers.
67
Percentage of custodial fathers receiving noncash support such as gifts or coverage of expenses on behalf of their children. The corresponding proportion for mothers was 56 percent.
Source: Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support
