Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
5 facts about fathers and Father’s Day
5 facts about fathers and Father’s Day
Jan 8, 2026 4:37 PM

This Sunday is the day Americans set aside to honor their fathers. Here are 5 facts you should know about dads and Father’s Day.

1. After listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909, Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash. wanted a special day to honer her father, a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm. The first Father’s Day celebration, June 17, 1910, was proclaimed by Spokane’s mayor because it was the month of 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.

2.Based on the unpublished Census data (2008), there are an estimated 70.1 million fathers across the nation. 24.9 million were part of married-couple families with children younger than 18 in 2015. 21 percent were raising three or more children younger than 18 (among married-couple family households only).

3.In the U.S., there are an estimated 199,000 stay-at-home dads (compared to 5 million stay-at-home moms). 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 upward of 368,000 children.

4.There are 1.9 million single fathers (compared to 10.3 million single mothers) living with children younger than 18 in 2015; 16 percent of single parents were men. About 45 percent were divorced, 33 percent were never married, 17 percent were separated, and 6 percent were widowed.

5.Fathers have nearly tripled the amount of time they spend with their children, from 2.5 hours in 1965 to 7.3 hours per week in 2011, according to a Pew Research report that analyzed years of time-use data. Despite that increase, 48 percent of fathers said they spent too little time with their pared with 25 percent of mothers who said the same; half of dads said they spent the right amount of time.Dads are also less positive about their own parenting than are moms. Just 39 percent of fathers say they are doing a “very good job” raising their pared with 51 percent of mothers.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Contrasting Moral Lessons from the Congressional Boss
I read with considerable attention “Congressional bosses from Hell: Sheila Jackson Lee” in the Daily Caller today. From the article: Congress was in recess, and the 435 lawmakers who drive the frenetic pace on Capitol Hill were home in their districts glad-handing constituents. For that reason, the door to [Sheila] Jackson Lee’s office was open and the sounds emanating from inside were pleasant laughter and conversation. ‘You could tell when she wasn’t there,’ Stephens said. That was because on a...
Rev. Sirico: God and Wisconsin’s government unions
Yesterday Rev. Robert A. Sirico’s column appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The opinion piece brought a unique perspective to the discussion on the current protests occurring in Wisconsin. Patrick McIheran, columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, referred to Rev. Sirico’s article in his column, appearing yesterday, which examined different viewpoints on the union protests in Wisconsin. McIheran extensively quotes Rev. Sirico throughout his article: A key principle is that people should be free to join together with others of...
Acton on Tap Tonight: Dr. Carl Trueman
Dr. Carl Trueman is our guest for Acton on Tap tonight at Derby Station in East Grand Rapids. Be sure to join us and bring a friend if you are within hailing distance of this fine establishment (arrival at 6pm, discussion at 6:30pm). Dr. Trueman, who teaches church history and serves as academic dean at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, will be giving a brief talk under the title, “An Englishman Abroad: Amateur Reflections on the Current Evangelical Political Scene.”...
Olasky on the New-Old Local
Acton senior fellow Marvin Olasky has the cover story for the ing issue of WORLD magazine, and it’s worth reading in full, “The revival of localism.” Olasky’s basic narrative focuses on “young men and women who understand that they are Christian pilgrims in this world—but they expect to stay in one place, making friends and being of service, unless and until God moves them on.” He has a number of salient data points and interesting interviews, including Caleb Stegall, the...
Rev. Sirico Commentary on Catholics and Unions in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Acton President and co-founder Rev. Robert A. Sirico publishes a new opinion piece that looks at “the protests in Wisconsin against proposed changes in collective bargaining for public-sector unions” through the lens of Catholic social thought: Catholic teaching’s pro-union bias By the Rev. Robert A. Sirico There is a long-standing bias in Catholic social teaching toward unions, and this dates from the long history of labor struggles for fair wages and safe working conditions. There...
Business and Compassion: Rehumanizing Our Economy
For PowerBlog readers around New York City, Rev. Robert A. Sirico will be speaking tonight, Wednesday March 2nd. The event, Business and Compassion: Rehumanizing Our Economy, is hosted by Heart’s Home, International Center for a Culture of Compassion, and the American Bible Society. Rev. Sirico is one of four members speaking on a panel. The event will be from 7:00pm-9:00pm (EST) at the American Bible Society National Headquarters (1865 Broadway, New York, NY 10023). The cost of admission is $15...
Audio: Sirico and Gregg on Wisconsin
If you’ve been following the news recently, no doubt you’re aware of the controversy in Wisconsin surrounding Governor Scott Walker’s budget proposals – which include curtailing collective bargaining for state employees – which have led to massive union protests in Madison and the state Senate Democrats fleeing to Illinois to try to delay the vote and force changes in the bill. Last week, a couple of radio shows turned to Acton for insight on the Wisconsin situation. On Monday, Rev....
International Aid and Integral Human Development
International aid e in for a lot of criticism recently and with the debate on the federal budget just beginning, U.S. funding for aid is on the chopping block. With a rising deficit, and a struggling economy, many are asking why the United States chooses to continue funding international, or foreign, aid. People of faith are often caught in the middle of the debate on whether international aid should or shouldn’t be cut, along with the role the state should...
Poverty, Charity, and The State
Joe Carter wrote a good piece on poverty and Christian charity over at the First Things site with some good quotes from Abraham Kuyper. Carter writes: The problem of poverty, at least in America, is not just that it makes it difficult for people to fulfill their material needs, but rather that it blinds us all to what we really need. After all, what the truly destitute—those without food and shelter—need most isn’t a handout or a redistribution of wealth....
Initial Thoughts on ‘A Call for Intergenerational Justice’
A number of prominent evangelical leaders in America have issued a statement on the budget fights in the federal government. “A Call for Intergenerational Justice: A Christian Proposal on the American Debt Crisis,” is sponsored by the Center for Public Justice and Evangelicals for Social Action. Signatories include Ron Sider of ESA, Gideon Strauss of CPJ, Richard Mouw, Michael Gerson, Shane Claiborne, Andy Crouch, and Jim Wallis. Here are some initial thoughts: There is very little principle in this statement,...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved