Father's Day Facts and Figures You May Not Know

FAMILY MAN

24.4 million: Number of fathers who were part of married-couple families with children younger than 18 in 2012.

• 21 percent were raising three or more children younger than 18 (among married-couple family households only).
• 3 percent were a subfamily living in someone else's home.

OFFICIAL SYMBOL

Rose is the official flower for Father's Day. Wearing a red rose signifies a living father, while white one represents deceased father.

PRESIDENTIAL SUPPORT

In 1972, in the middle of a hard-fought presidential re-election campaign, Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making Father’s Day a federal holiday.  Today, economists estimate that Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on Father’s Day gifts.

MR. MOM

Mr. Mom is becoming a more common sight at parks across America with 154,000 estimated “stay-at-home” dads. These married fathers with children under 15 years old have remained out of the labor force for more than one year primarily so they can care for the family while their wives work outside the home. These fathers cared for 287,000 children under 15.

POSITIVE INFLUENCE

Even in high crime neighborhoods, 90 percent of children from stable two-parent homes where the father is involved do not become delinquents.