HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Currents. Discussion »

“The traditions of our people are handed down from father to son”

Sarah Winnemucca, Paiute

The Native News Network recognizes the importance a father plays in the lives of their children. It is critical for fathers to provide strength and protection to their children.

To all the fathers, we say, "Happy Father's Day!"

The following information was provided to the Native News Network from the US Census Bureau:

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 101 years ago, June 19, 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.

Fathers' Facts:

70.1 million

Estimated number of fathers across the United States.

25.3 million

Number of fathers who were part of married-couple families with children younger than 18 in 2010.

1.8 million

Number of single fathers in 2010; 15 percent of single parents were men.

154,000

Estimated number of stay-at-home dads in 2010. 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 wives work outside the home. These fathers cared for 287,000 children.

16 Percent

In spring 2005, the percentage of preschoolers regularly cared for by their father during their mother's working hours.

53 Percent and 71 Percent

Percentages of children younger than 6 who ate breakfast and dinner, respectively, with their father every day in 2006. The corresponding percentages who ate with their mother were 58 percent and 80 percent. (The percentages of children who ate breakfast with their mother or father, respectively, were not significantly different from each another.)

36 Percent

Percentage of children younger than 6 who had 15 or more outings with their father in the last month, as of 2006.

Six

Average times children ages 3 to 5 were read to by their fathers in the past week, as of 2006.

66 Percent

Percentage of children younger than 6 who were praised three or more times a day by their fathers.

posted June 19, 2011 11:00 am et