Father’s Day is a day to celebrate dads and thank them for all the things they do for us — big and small. Here are a few facts about dads in America and how we celebrate them.
Fathers By The Numbers
- There were more than 70.1 million fathers in the United States in 2008, according to census data.
- According to the Pew Research Center, fathers are more involved at home than they were even 50 years ago. Children spent approximately seven hours of quality time per week with dad in 2011 compared to 2.5 hours in 1965.
- Fathers’ time spent performing housework also has more than doubled in this same period — from an average of four hours per week to 10 hours per week.
- Single fathers are an all-too-often marginalized group. According to the United States Census Bureau, there were 1.96 million single fathers as of 2012. This makes up for 16 percent of single parents.
- Additionally, more than 189,000 men are stay-at-home dads.
Celebrating Dad
- Planning a barbecue is one of the most popular Father’s Day events, with more than 79 million Americans participating in one for the holiday in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- There are 7,368 men’s clothing stores, 15,542 hardware stores and 21,418 sporting goods stores across the United States as of 2010, according to U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns reports. These retail outlets comprise the three most popular for shopping for Dad.
- According to Hallmark, Father’s Day is the fourth-largest occasion for sending cards — with more than 74 million cards purchased and given every year.
- Americans spend half as much on Dad as than they do celebrating Mom.