Father's Day 2016

Sunday, June 19 Photo by: Danielle MacInnes

Father's Day is a celebration of fathers started in the United States in the early twentieth century. It can be seen as a complement to Mother's Day but the holiday is not as popular as Mother's Day. Partly because it is much younger -- it became official in 1972 while the latter in 1914.

Traditionally the father was the breadwinner while the mother was a housewife and raised the children. But that traditional family model is now less common. Nowadays often both parents work and share responsibilities associated with raising children and taking care of the house. Scientific studies confirm that fathers have a role to play in child development and affect the course of their children's development, for good as well as for ill [1]. Studies have consistently shown that paternal warmth, nurturance and closeness are associated with positive child outcomes even if fathers spend less time with their children than the mothers.

Father's Day is a great opportunity to appreciate the love and effort of our fathers. Fortunately, in recent years, it is getting more media attention, schools organize activities related to Father's Day and retailers promote buying fathers special greeting cards and male-oriented gifts such as electronics and tools.

Expenses related to the celebration of Father's Day are still much smaller than those associated with the Mother's Day. Obviously, this is due to the smaller popularity of the former and lesser degree of commercialization. It should also be taken into account that some children are brought up without a father. Perhaps it is also harder to buy a good gift for Dad because often anything he wants he has already bought, or it is too expensive to buy for a Fathers Day gift.

It is worth remembering that sometimes the best possible gift would simply be recognition and thanks for all the effort put into being a good Dad who cares about his family. Men need to feel respected and appreciated but often do not know how to ask for it. For some fathers the best gift would be to let them spend Father's Day alone and do whatever they want to, while the ideal deal for others would be to spend more time with their loved ones, especially children.

Interesting facts about Father's Day

• In the US, Father's Day is the busiest day for collect (reverse charge) calls [2].
• Approximately 30% less is spend on Father's Day gifts than on Mother's Day gifts [3].
• In Germany, Father's Day (also called men's day, Männertag) is celebrated on Ascension Day. It is a tradition for groups of males to go for hiking with one or more man-pulled wagons filled with beer or wine and regional food. As many men use this opportunity to get drunk, the alcohol-related accidents multiply by three on this day [4].
• The staff of the Empire State Building in New York sends an annual Father's Day card to the staff at the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on which the architecture of the Empire State Building was partially based [5].

References

• [1] Lamb, Michael E., ed. The role of the father in child development. John Wiley & Sons, 2004.
• [2] Pallavi Gogoi, Father's Unspectacular Day, Bloomberg.
• [3] Phil Izzo, Number of the Week: Spending Less on Father’s Day, The Wall Street Journal.
• [4] Father's Day in Germany, Wikipedia.
• [5] Empire State Building History and Facts.