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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.
Who invented Father's Day?
Alvin Austin
Julia Ward Howe
Sonora Smart-Dodd
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.
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Which U.S. President made Father's Day a national holiday?
Coolidge
Truman
Nixon
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.
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In 2009, Charles J. Saylor became the first male president of what?
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
National Parent Teacher Association
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.
La Leche League
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Which famous researcher referred to fatherhood as a "biological necessity and social accident"?
Benjamin Spock
Margaret Mead
That widely circulated quote is attributed to cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead.
Charles Darwin
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What percentage of American children are raised in households without their biological fathers?
12 percent
23 percent
39 percent
According to the National Center for Fathering, 39 percent of school-aged kids and teenagers grow up apart from their biological fathers.
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Fathers from which country spend the most time with their children, on average?
United States
Netherlands
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.
Britain
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Which of the following famous dads had the most kids?
Jim Henson
Jim Henson and his wife, Jane, had five children: Lisa, Brian, John, Cheryl and Heather. Gandhi had four sons and King has three kids.
Mahatma Gandhi
Stephen King
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In 2008, what percentage of American children younger than 6 years old ate dinner every night with dad?
33 percent
54 percent
71 percent
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.
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Which major historical event institutionalized the family model of father-as-breadwinner and mother-as-caregiver?
Enlightenment
Industrial Revolution
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.
World War I
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According to a 2009 British survey, men gain how much weight during their partners' pregnancies?
8 pounds (3.6 kilograms)
14 pounds (6.3 kilograms)
Blaming additional snack foods around the house and more eating out, the British dads reported gaining an average 14 pounds (6.3 kilograms).
21 pounds (9.5 kilograms)
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Which of the following countries offers the most generous paternity leave?
United States
France
Sweden
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.
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The U.S. Census Bureau tallied up how many stay-at-home dads in 2008?
154,000
Although the Census Bureau recognized 154,000 at-home dads, fatherhood scholars suspect the actual number is much higher.
554,000
1,540,000
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In February 2012, news broke that which World War II dictator secretly fathered a son with a French teenager?
Adolph Hitler
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.
Joseph Stalin
Benito Mussolini
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Considering that there are 85 million mothers in the United States, how many American dads are out there?
85 million
70 million
Perhaps due to single parenting and gender differences in life spans, there are 15 million more American mothers than fathers.
55 million
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As of 2007, what percent of working mothers earned more income than their husbands?
13 percent
25 percent
The Great Recession tipped the income scales in favor of more women, bumping the number of wives out-earning their husbands to 25 percent.
41 percent
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Modern dads are giving out more what to their kids these days?
hugs
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.
curfews
money
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According to 2010 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, working moms spend how much more time than working dads taking care of kids every day?
17 minutes
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.
52 minutes
2.3 hours
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True or false: Fathers prefer to have sons.
true
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.
false
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What percentage of American dads wish they could spend more time with their kids?
33 percent
55 percent
77 percent
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.
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True or false: Sports are the primary father-child activity.
true
Continuing a trend that began in the early 20th century, fathers dedicate four times more childcare time to sports, compared to mothers.
false
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You Got:
/20
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