Although the idea of Father’s Day was conceived in 1909 by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash., to honor her father, a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm, it wasn’t until 1966 that Pres. Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.
What will consumers spent this year?
The average person will spend $114 on neckties, tools, electronics, and other special gifts for dad, slightly down from $120 last year.
Total spending for the holiday is expected to reach $12.5 billion, according to a survey done for the National Retail Federation.
While most people, 64.1 percent, will say thank you to dad with a greeting card, four in 10 will treat dad to new clothing items such as neckties and sweaters, spending a total of $1.8 billion, while another 43 percent will celebrate with special outings such as dinner or a tickets to a sporting event, spending a total of $2.5 billion.
The survey also found that those celebrating Father’s Day will spend $1.6 billion on electronic gifts such as smartphones and tablets and $1.8 billion on gift cards.
Consumers will also spend money on tools or appliances, $663 million; sporting goods or leisure items, $662 million; home improvement items, $645 million; personal care items, $641 million; books or CDs, $555 million; and automotive accessories, $520 million.
Who are our fathers?
Here facts and figures from the U.S. Census Bureau on American fathers:
Number of fathers
70.1 million
Estimated number of fathers across the nation in 2008, the most recent year for which data are available.
24.7 million
Number of fathers who were part of married-couple families with children younger than 18 in 2013.
- 21 percent were raising three or more children younger than 18.
- 3 percent were a subfamily living in someone else’s home.
2 million
Number of single fathers in 2013; 17 percent of single parents were men.
- 9 percent were raising three or more children younger than 18.
- About 44 percent were divorced, 33 percent were never married, 19 percent were separated, and 4.2 percent were widowed.
- 39 percent had an annual family income of $50,000 or more.
Stay at home dads
214,000
Estimated number of stay-at-home dads in 2013. 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 wife works outside the home. These fathers cared for about 434,000 children.
18%
In spring 2011, the percentage of preschoolers regularly cared for by their father during their mother’s working hours.
Child-support payments
$2 billion
Amount of child support received by custodial fathers in 2011; they were due $3.7 billion. In contrast, custodial mothers received $19.5 billion of the $31.7 billion in support that was due.
41.4%
Percentage of custodial fathers who received all child support that was due in 2011; the corresponding percentage for custodial mothers, 43.6 percent.
63.9%
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 55 percent.
