By Rita R. Robison
On Father's Day, it’s always fun to look at how much consumers will be spending on their dads and who American dads are.
Father’s Day spending
Gift givers are planning to spend more than ever this Father's Day, according to a National Retail Federation survey.
The average person will spend about $117 on dad's gifts this year, up 10 percent from $106 last year. The increased spending is closing the gap between its biggest competitor: Mother's Day – consumers planned to spend an average of $152 on the holiday.
Total spending for Father's Day is expected to reach $12.7 billion.
More people this year will treat dad to a special outing, such as golfing, eating out, or heading to a sporting event – $2.3 billion vs. $2.0 billion in 2011. They’ll also buy electronic gift items – $1.7 billion vs. $1.3 billion last year – and apparel – $1.7 billion vs. $1.4 billion in 2011. Others will purchase gift cards, $1.7 billion; sporting goods, $641 million; and books or music, $645 million.
Four in 10 consumers said they would shop at department stores while nearly three in 10 indicated they would shop online.
More than one-quarter of those who own a tablet said they would use their tablet to make a Father's Day purchase. More than half of tablet owners indicated they would use their tablet to research products and compare prices, redeem coupons, and look up retailers' information such as store hours and location.
About one-quarter of smartphone owners will use their smartphone to research gift ideas and compare prices, while one in 10 will purchase a Father's Day gift using their smartphone.
American fathers
The U.S. Census Bureau offers these statistics on the nation's fathers:
Number of fathers
70.1 million
Number of fathers across the nation.
24.7 million
Number of fathers who were part of married-couple families with children younger than 18 in 2011.
- 21 percent were raising three or more children younger than 18 in married-couple family households only.
- 3 percent lived in someone else's home.
1.7 million
Number of single fathers in 2011; 15 percent of single parents were men.
- 10 percent were raising three or more children younger than 18.
- About 45 percent were divorced, 31 percent were never married, 19 percent were separated, and 5 percent were widowed.
- 38 percent had an annual family income of $50,000 or more.
Stay-at-home dads
176,000
Estimated number of stay-at-home dads in 2011. 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 about 332,000 children.
17%
In spring 2010, the percentage of preschoolers regularly cared for by their father during their mother's working hours.
Child-support payments
$1.9 billion
Amount of child support received by custodial fathers in 2009; they were due $3.5 billion. Custodial mothers received $19.5 billion of the $31.7 billion in support that was due.
34%
Percentage of custodial fathers who received all child support that was due in 2009, compared to that which was received for custodial mothers, 42 percent.
70%
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 58 percent.
