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More than a century ago, Sonora Dodd, the daughter of Civil Warbrveteran William Jackson Smart, envisioned a day to celebrate fathersbreverywhere. In 1898, Dodd's mother lost her life while giving birth to herbrsixth and final child. In turn, Dodd's father was left to raise the newborn andbrhis five other children by himself on the family's farm in Spokane, Washington.brAlthough Dodd was only 16, she recognized the immense sacrifices her widowedbrfather had to make, and she wanted a memorable way to express her gratitude.
When Dodd shared her holiday idea with Spokane's mayor, June 17,br1910 was chosen as the first Father's Day celebration because June was Smart'sbrbirth month. However, the inaugural presidential proclamation commemoratingbrfathers wasn't issued until 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson nominated thebrthird Sunday in June as Father's Day.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed the law, making Father'sbrDay an official holiday. Since then, families across the nation have observedbrthe holiday every year. After all, fathers breaking their backs to provide abrroof over their children's heads and food on the table deserve to have a day tobrbe appreciated and celebrated for all the work they do.
How Many Fathers?
70.1 million
Estimated number of fathers across the nation in 2008, the mostbrrecent year for which data are available. Source: Wave 2 Fertility TopicalbrModule from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation
http://www.nber.org/sipp/2008/2008w13tm.pdf
24.9 million
Number of fathers who were part of married-couple families withbrchildren younger than 18 in 2015.
• 21 percent were raising three or more children younger than 18br(among married-couple family households only).
• 3 percent were living in someone else's home with theirbrfamilies.
Source: Current Population Survey, Annual Social and EconomicbrSupplement, Tables FG1 and FG3
https://www.census.gov/hhes/families/index.html
1.9 million
Number of single fathers in 2015; 16 percent of single parentsbrwere men.
• 9 percent were raising three or more children younger than 18.
• About 45 percent were divorced, 33 percent were never married,br17 percent were separated, and 6 percent were widowed.
• About 47 percent had an annual family income of $50,000 orbrmore.
Source: Current Population Survey, Annual Social and EconomicbrSupplement, Table FG6
https://www.census.gov/hhes/families/index.html
Thinking of You, Dad
22,508
The number of clothing stores, department stores, warehousebrclubs and supercenters around the country where you could buy dad a dress shirtbrin 2012. Sales totaled an estimated $2.6 billion at these locations.
Source: 2012 Economic Census, Product Lines Statistics bybrIndustry for the U.S. and States
$20.4 billion
The estimated sales of hardware stores in 2012. There werebr15,454 establishments in 2012 that sold tools and plumbing and electricalbrsupplies. Included in those hardware stores were 8,514 establishments that soldbrladders and scaffolding.
Source: 2012 Economic Census, Product Lines Statistics bybrIndustry for the U.S. and States
21,132
The number of sporting goods and recereational establishments inbr2012, reporting $40.7 billion in total sales. Golf equipment was sold in 5,591brof those establishments, accounting for $2.1 billion in total sales.
Source: 2012 Economic Census, Product Lines Statistics bybrIndustry for the U.S. and States http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ECN/2012_US/44SLLS1//naics~451110/prodsvc~20530|20531|20532|20533|20534|20535|20536|20537|20538|20539
7,100
Number of men's clothing stores around the country in 2014, abrgood place to buy dad a tie or shirt.
Source: County Business Patterns, NAICS code (44811) http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2014/00A1//naics~44811/
15,331
Number of hardware stores in 2014, a place to buy hammers,brwrenches, screwdrivers and other items high on the list of Father's Day gifts.brAdditionally, there were 6,561 home centers across the country in 2014.
Source: County Business Patterns, NAICS codes (444130) andbr(444110)
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2014/00A1//naics~444130
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2014/00A1//naics~444110
21,830
Number of sporting goods stores in 2014. These stores were goodbrplaces to purchase traditional gifts for dad, such as fishing rods and golfbrclubs.
Source: County Business Patterns, NAICS code (451110) http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2014/00A1//naics~451110
Stay-at-Home Dads
199,000
Estimated number of stay-at-home dads in 2015. These marriedbrfathers with children younger than 15 have remained out of the labor force forbrat least one year, primarily so they can care for the family while their wifebrworks outside the home. These fathers cared for about 368,000 children.
Source: Current Population Survey, Annual Social and EconomicbrSupplement, Table SHP-1
http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/data/families.html
29.0%
In spring 2013, the percentage of preschoolers regularly caredbrfor by their father during their mother's working hours.
Source: Who's Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Springbr2013
http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p70-135.pdf
Child-Support Payments
$3.1 billion
Amount of child support received by custodial fathers in 2013;brthey were due $4.2 billion. In contrast, custodial mothers received $19.4brbillion of the $28.7 billion in support that was due. Source: Custodial Mothersbrand Fathers and Their Child Support: 2013, Page 11 https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/P60-255.pdf
40.7%
Percentage of custodial fathers who received all child supportbrthat was due in 2013, not statistically different from the correspondingbrpercentage for custodial mothers, 46.2 percent. Source: Custodial Mothersbrand Fathers and Their Child Support: 2013, Page 3, Table 1https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/P60-255.pdf
70.3%
Percentage of custodial fathers receiving noncash support, suchbras gifts or coverage of expenses, on behalf of their children. Thebrcorresponding proportion for mothers was 59.9 percent. Source: CustodialbrMothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2013, Page 12https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/P60-255.pdf
Following is a list of observances typically covered by thebrCensus Bureau's Facts for Features series:
African-American History Monthbr(February) Labor Day (1st Monday in September)
Super Bowl (1st Sunday inbrFebruary) Grandparents Day (1st Sunday after Labor Day)
Valentine's Day (Feb.br14) Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15)
Women's History Monthbr(March)
Unmarried and Single Americans Week (3rd week of September)
Irish-American Heritage Month (March) br Halloween (Oct. 31)
St. Patrick's Day (Marchbr17) American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month
Earth Day (April 22) (November)
Asian/Pacific American Heritage Monthbr(May) Veterans Day (Nov.br11)
Older Americans Month (May) Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday in November)
Mother's Day (2nd Sunday inbrMay) The Holiday Season (December)
Hurricane Season Begins (Junebr1)
Father's Day (3rd Sunday inbrJune)
The Fourth of July (July 4)
Anniversary of Americans With Disabilities Act (July 26)
Back to Schoolbr(August)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau