72.2 million Dads and counting

Some facts about fathers and Father Day?s …

The idea of Father?s Day was conceived more than a century ago by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash., while she listened to a Mother?s Day sermon in 1909. {{more: continue …}}

Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm. A day in June was chosen for the first Father?s Day celebration, June 19, 1910, proclaimed by Spokane?s mayor because it was the month of Smart?s birth.

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The following information was released by the US Census ??

• 72.2 million ? is the estimated number of fathers across the nation in 2014, the most recent year for which data are available.

• 24.6 million – The number of fathers living in married-couple family groups with children younger than age 18 in 2016.

• 2.0 million – The number of single fathers in 2016 living with their children under age 18; 17 percent of single parents were men.

• 9% were raising three or more children younger than age 18.

• 40% (approximately) were divorced

• 38 % were never married

• 16% were separated while 6 % were widowed.

• 46% had an annual family income of $50,000 or more.

• 12.4% have kids with their current spouse or partner, but also have kids with someone else.

• 29.2 million fathers who are also grandfathers.

• 209,000 – Stay-at-Home Dads. These married fathers with children younger than age 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 392,000 children under age 15.

• 72 million cards are given each year according to Hallmark.

• 4th largest card sending day is Father’s Day

• Fifty percent of all Father’s Day cards are purchased for fathers a little less than 20% of Father’s Day cards are given to husbands.