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Features for Senior Citizens
Father's Day on Sunday Does Not Equal Mother's Day
Maybe because there
are 80.5 million moms and only 66.3 million dads
June 16, 2006 – America celebrates Father's Day on
Sunday, as it has since 1910, but it was not made an official national
event until President Lyndon Johnson made the move in 1966 and President
Richard Nixon made it public law in 1972. Mother's Day, on the other
hand, has been celebrated since 1908 and was made official by the
Congress in 1914. Mother's Day has always seemed a more important event
and that is, at least partially, because there are so many more mothers
than fathers.
And, there is not even a Grandfather's Day, or a
day for Grandmothers, for that matter, although there is a Grandparents
Day that few seemed to notice.
Below are a few comparative statistics about
fathers and mothers from information provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The comparisons are followed by more statistics on Father's Day.
|
Fathers |
Mothers |
|
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 on a farm. A day in June was chosen
for the first Father’s Day celebration — June 19, 1910,
proclaimed 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. |
The driving force behind Mother’s Day was
Anna Jarvis, who organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and
Philadelphia, Pa., on May 10, 1908. While the annual celebration
spread around the country, Jarvis began lobbying politicians to
set aside a day to honor mothers. She finally succeeded in 1914
when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s
Day.
|
|
How Many Dads
66.3 million
Estimated number of fathers across the nation today. (From
unpublished data.) |
How Many Mothers
80.5 million
Estimated number of mothers of all ages in the United
States. |
|
Remembering Dad
102 million
The number of Father’s Day cards expected to be given this
year in the United States, making Father’s Day the fifth-largest
card-sending occasion. (Source: Hallmark research) |
Remembering Mom
More Than 150 million
The estimated number of Mother’s Day cards that will be
given this year in the United States, making Mother’s Day the
third-largest card sending occasion. |
|
Single Dads
2.3 million
Number of single fathers, up from 400,000 in 1970.
Currently, among single parents living with their children, 18
percent are men.
Among these fathers —
11 percent are raising three or more of
their own children under 18 years old.
42 percent are divorced, 39 percent have
never married, 15 percent are separated and 4 percent are
widowed. (The percentages of those divorced and never married
are not significantly different from one another.)
16 percent live in the home of a relative
or a nonrelative.
22 percent have an annual family income
of $50,000 or more.
|
Single Moms
10 million
The number of single mothers living with children under 18
years old, up from 3 million in 1970.
|
|
Stay at Home Dads
143,000
Estimated number of “stay-at-home” dads. These married
fathers with children under 15 years old 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.
These fathers cared for 245,000 children under age 15. |
Stay at Home Moms
5.6 million
Number of stay-at-home moms in 2004.
|
More About
Father's Day
50%
Percentage of all Father’s Day cards that are purchased specifically
by sons and/or daughters. Nearly 20 percent of Father’s Day cards are
purchased by wives for their husbands; the remaining cards are bought
for grandfathers, sons, brothers, uncles and “someone special.” (Source:
Hallmark research)
73%
Percentage of Americans who plan to celebrate or acknowledge
Father’s Day. (Source: Hallmark research and National Retail
Federation.)
Neckties lead the list of Father’s Day gifts. A
good place to buy dad a tie or a shirt might be one of 9,189 men’s
clothing stores around the country in 2003.
Other items high on the list of Father’s Day gifts include those items
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 14,864 hardware stores or 5,795 home centers in 2003.
22,410
Number of sporting goods stores in 2003. These stores are good
places to purchase traditional gifts for dad such as fishing rods and
golf clubs.
More than 68 million Americans participated at a
barbecue in the last year — it’s probably safe to assume many of these
barbecues took place on Father’s Day.
20%
Percentage of fathers with employed wives who were the primary
caregiver for their preschooler. In contrast, 6 percent of fathers
provided the most hours of care for their grade-school-aged child.
32%
Percentage of fathers who regularly worked evening or night shifts
and were the primary source of care for their preschoolers during their
children’s mother’s working hours. For fathers working part-time, the
proportion was 38 percent. For fathers who were not employed, it was 52
percent.
How Many Married Fathers?
26.4 million
Number of fathers who are part of married-couple families with their
own children under the age of 18.
Among these —
● 22 percent are raising three or more of their own children under 18
years old (among married-couple family households only).
● 2 percent live in the home of a relative or a nonrelative.
Child-Support Payments
4.6 million
Number of fathers who provide child support. All in all, 84 percent
of child-support providers are men, who provide median payments of
$3,600 annually.
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