Here's to You, Mr. Mom

Father's Day dates back to 1910 when it was conceived by Mrs. John B. Dodd of Spokane, Wash., and proclaimed for June 19 of that year by the mayor. The first presidential proclamation 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 1971.

In honor of Father's Day, here are some more up-to-date facts about American dads from the Census Bureau:

- Approximately 105,000 married American fathers choose to be "stay-at-home" dads, shunning the labor force primarily so they can care for their children while their wives work outside the home. These stay-at-home dads care for about 189,000 children under age 15.

- About 2 million American preschool children are cared for by their fathers more hours than by any other child-care provider while their mothers are at work. This amounts to about 1-in-5 preschoolers of employed mothers.

- The number of single fathers has now grown to about 2 million, up from just 393,000 in 1970.

Among single fathers:

10 percent are raising three or more of their own children under 18.

45 percent are divorced; 34 percent have never married; 17 percent are married with an absent spouse; and 4 percent are widowed.

10 percent are raising their own infants under age 1. This percentage is not significantly different from the corresponding rate for fathers in married-couple families. 22 percent are under 30. 5 percent are 55 or over. This percentage is not significantly different from the corresponding rate for fathers in married-couple families. 13 percent live in the home of a relative or a non-relative. 24 percent have an annual family income of $50,000 or more.

- About 3 in 10 children under 18 live with their single father who also resides in a household that included dad's unmarried partner. In contrast, only 1-in-10 children who lived with their single mother shared the home with mom's unmarried partner.

- Neckties remain the most popular Fathers Day gift. Sales at men's clothing stores approached or exceeded $800 million in both May and June of last year.

[Source: US Census Bureau]