The idea of Father’s Day was conceived by Sonora Dodd of Spokane,
Wash., while she listened to a Mother’s 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 by himself on a rural
farm. June was chosen for the first Father’s Day celebration —
proclaimed for June 19, 1910, by Spokane’s mayor — because
it was the month of William Smart’s birth. The first presidential
proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 when President Lyndon
Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Father’s
Day has been celebrated annually since 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed the public law that made it
permanent.
66.3 million
Estimated number of fathers across the nation today. (From unpublished
data.)
Remembering Dad
- Neckties lead the list of Father’s Day gifts. A good place
to buy dad a tie or a shirt might be one of 10,416 men’s clothing
stores around the country. <http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html>
- Other items high on the list of Father’s Day gifts include
those you may find in dad’s toolbox, such as hammers, wrenches
and screwdrivers. You could buy some of these items for dad at one
of the nation’s 14,755 hardware stores or 5,280 home centers.
<http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html>
Mr. Mom
98,000
Estimated number of “stay-at-home” dads. These are married
fathers with children under 15 years old who have remained out of the
labor force for more than one year primarily so they can care for the
family while their wives work outside the home. Among these stay-at-home
dads:
- 29 percent had their own children under 3 years old living with them.
- 63 percent had two or more children.
- 40 percent had an annual family income of $50,000 or more.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/003118.html>
How Many Fathers?
26.5 million
Number of fathers who are part of married-couple families with their own
children under the age of 18.
Among these —
- 21 percent are raising three or more of their own children under 18
years old.
- 11 percent are under 30.
- 5 percent are 55 and older.
- 2 percent live in the home of a relative or a nonrelative.
- 65 percent have an annual family income of $50,000 or more.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/003118.html>
2.3 million
Number of single fathers, up from 393,000 in 1970. Currently, among single
parents living with their children, 18 percent are men.
Among these fathers —
- 10 percent are raising three or more of their own children under
18 years old.
- 42 percent are divorced; 38 percent have never married; 15 percent
are separated; and 5 percent are widowed. (The percentages of those
divorced and never married are not significantly different from one
another.)
- 15 percent live in the home of a relative or a nonrelative.
- 21 percent have an annual family income of $50,000 or more.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/003118.html>
Child-Support
4.6 million
Number of fathers who provided child support. All in all, 84 percent of
child-support providers are men, who provide median payments of $3,600
annually.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/004012.html>
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