About This Quiz
When it comes to parental relationships, fatherhood has been overshadowed by motherhood during the last 150 years. However, dads are beginning to get their due, especially among academic circles studying how these men function within family dynamics and contribute to child development. Test your databank of dad knowledge with this 21st Century Fatherhood Quiz.During a 1909 Mother's Day sermon, Sonora Smart-Dodd came up with the idea for Father's Day as a way to honor her widowed father of six.
Advertisement
Although Father's Day celebrations began in Spokane, Wash., in 1910, it wasn't until 1972 that President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation officially designating the second Sunday in June as Father's Day.
Advertisement
For the first time since it was formed in 1897, the National Parent Teacher Association elected a male president, Saylor, in 2007. He officially took the helm in 2009.
Advertisement
That widely circulated quote is attributed to cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead.
Advertisement
According to the National Center for Fathering, 39 percent of school-aged kids and teenagers grow up apart from their biological fathers.
Advertisement
According to research conducted by fatherhood expert and Stony Brook University sociologist Michael Kimmel, dads in the Netherlands spend twice as much time with their kids compared to American dads, and British papas put in 40 percent more time than their paternal counterparts across the pond.
Advertisement
Jim Henson and his wife, Jane, had five children: Lisa, Brian, John, Cheryl and Heather. Gandhi had four sons and King has three kids.
Advertisement
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 71 percent of American kids ate dinner every night with their dads in 2008. Fifty-three percent breakfasted with dad every morning.
Advertisement
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, fathers spent more time at home, often taking ownership of children's academic and religious educations. Afterward, men left the home to earn money, casting the primary responsibility over home and children to mothers.
Advertisement
Blaming additional snack foods around the house and more eating out, the British dads reported gaining an average 14 pounds (6.3 kilograms).
Advertisement
Sweden has become known for its bountiful, government-sanctioned maternity and paternity leave, guaranteeing working dads at least two months off while earning up to 80 percent of their salaries. The U.S. is among a minority of developed governments that doesn't provide for paid parental leave.
Advertisement
Although the Census Bureau recognized 154,000 at-home dads, fatherhood scholars suspect the actual number is much higher.
Advertisement
In February 2012, the French magazine Le Point published the story of deceased Jean-Marie Loret, the secret son of Adolph Hitler, who met Loret's mother while fighting in France during World War I.
Advertisement
Perhaps due to single parenting and gender differences in life spans, there are 15 million more American mothers than fathers.
Advertisement
The Great Recession tipped the income scales in favor of more women, bumping the number of wives out-earning their husbands to 25 percent.
Advertisement
Although allowances also may have increased with inflation, national data indicates that dads are doling out more hugs to their children than in previous generations.
Advertisement
In a sign that dads are pitching in more around the house, working moms contribute just 17 minutes more childcare per day than their working husbands.
Advertisement
Statistically, fathers are more likely to desire sons, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Polls tracing back to 1941 have found that men report wanting a son more than a daughter by a 2:1 margin.
Advertisement
Struggling to strike a healthy work-life balance, a majority of employed fathers -- 77 percent -- would like more time with their kids, according to a 2010 study out of Boston College.
Advertisement
Continuing a trend that began in the early 20th century, fathers dedicate four times more childcare time to sports, compared to mothers.
Advertisement