Fathers and Families

From the Census:

The idea of Father’s Day was conceived slightly more than a century ago by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash., while she listened to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. 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 17, 1910, 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.

How Many Fathers?

70.1 million Estimated number of fathers across the nation in 2008, the most recent year for which data are available.

Source: Wave 2 Fertility Topical Module from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation

24.7 million Number of fathers who were part of married-couple families with children younger than 18 in 2014.

• 21 percent had three or more children younger than 18 in the household (among married-couple families only).
• 3 percent were living in someone else’s home with their families.

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/data/cps2014FG.html> Tables FG1

1.9 million: Number of single fathers in 2014; 16 percent of single parents were men.

• 9 percent had three or more children younger than 18 in the household.
• About 43.5 percent were divorced, 33.0 percent were never married, 18.8 percent were separated, and 4.7 percent were widowed.

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/data/cps2014FG.html> Table FG6 (One-parent)

...
Stay-at-Home Dads

211,000 Estimated number of stay-at-home dads in 2014. 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 420,000 children.

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/data/families.html> Table SHP-1

18% In spring 2011, the percentage of preschoolers regularly cared for by their father during their mother’s working hours.

Source: Who’s Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Spring 2011
<http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p70-135.pdf>

Child-Support Payments

$2 billion: Amount of child support received by custodial fathers in 2011; they were due $3.7 billion. Custodial mothers received $19.5 billion of the $31.7 billion in support that was due.

Source: Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2011
<http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p60-246.pdf> Pages 11 and 12

 41.4% Percentage of custodial fathers who received all child support that was due in 2011, not statistically different from the corresponding percentage for custodial mothers, 43.6 percent.

Source: Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2011
<http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p60-246.pdf> Page 3, Table 1

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 55.0 percent.

Source: Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2011
<https://www.census.gov/people/childsupport/data/files/chldsu11.pdf> Table 10