Americans Spend 41% More On Mother’s Day Than On Father’s Day

Mothers Day v Fathers Day

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are just about a month about on the calendar, but they’re a mile apart when it comes to what Americans spend in connection with the two holidays:

41%: How much more on average Americans planned to spend on Mother’s Day compared to Father’s Day.

It must have been a bad year for Dads. For the first time in four years, the gap between what Americans plan to spend on Father’s Day and what they plan to spend on Mother’s Day widened.

People always spend more on Mom than they do on Dad. This year on average Americans said they planned to spend about $169 on Mother’s Day compared to about $120 for Father’s Day, according to the National Retail Federation. But this year the disparity is the biggest it has been since the depths of the recession in 2008. While people boosted spending plans for Mom by 11%, the money expected to be shelled out for Dad rose a measly 2.3%.

Granted more people celebrate Mother’s Day than Father’s Day. Some 92% of survey respondents planned to buy for a special lady, compared to about 87% who were spending money for a father. But those averages for planned spending are only among those expecting to take part in the holiday.

It’s time for holiday spending parity!

FILED UNDER: Economics and Business
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Andre Kenji says:

    Only 41% more?

  2. michael reynolds says:

    As a father I have to say that moms are generally worth 41% more than we are.

  3. DC Loser says:

    In my house, it’s Infinitisimally more, since it’s something more than nothing.

  4. ernieyeball says:

    Happy Mothers Day Валенти́на Влади́мировна Терешко́ва.

    1963 First Woman in Space
    MOSCOW — A stocky blonde with a captivating smile kept a Sunday-morning date in space today [June 16] as the Soviet Union successfully launched the world’s first spacewoman. Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova, 26, rocketed through the heavens just two days after Lt. Col. Valeri F. Bykovsky blazed the way. “Hello Hawk, hello Hawk, this is Seagull,” Valentina’s high-pitched voice rang out. “Hello Seagull, this is Hawk,” Col. Bykovsky replied in the strangest boy-girl encounter in history. Miss Tereshkova, a tomboyish air force junior lieutenant, spun into space in Vostok 6 (East 6) after a week of rumor and speculation that the Soviet Union was about to enter a new phase of space research. As Col. Bykovsky was completing his 32d orbit in Vostok 5 and passing over the Soviet Union, the bulky capsule bearing Miss Tereshkova hurtled skyward.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/opinion/100-75-50-years-ago.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

  5. Given how much more common single mother families are than single father families, does this actually represent a per capita difference or a difference in population sizes? That is, do mothers actually get bigger presents, or are their just a lot more moms getting them than fathers?

  6. ernieyeball says:

    @ernieyeball: Today is Father’s Day…D’oh!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6GuEswXOXo

  7. James Pearce says:

    It’s because Dads are dicks. Or maybe that’s just my Dad.

  8. rudderpedals says:

    Life expectancy plays a part in this somehow.

    It’s been forty years since I had someone to give a father’s day present. If I could buy him back I’d spend it all. A little amulet sits next to this notebook comp, it reads:
    Parents hold their children’s hands for awhile, but their hearts forever.

  9. al-Ameda says:

    My theory is that Father’s Day is an accident. That is, one day, shortly after a past Mother’s Day, someone at Hallmark Cards noticed that while mothers had their own day, fathers did not, where upon someone said, ‘let’s see if production can print up some cards in time for the 3rd Sunday in June.’ Basically, it’s a Hallmark Holiday.

    I always tell my daughters that Father’s Day is daughters’ day, because without them I’m not a father.

  10. 11B40 says:

    Greetings:

    It’s all part of the Republicans’ “War on Women” which has been finally brought to light by the ever vigilant Obama administration, and especially Mrs. “Mama” Obama. Most women are woefully unaware of the sinister entrapment of lavish gift giving, like food stamps and “disability payments” and how these are the insidious tools of the theo-conservative patriarchy to keep them in their seemingly burqa-less mental confinements while slowly but surely removing from them, one salami slice at a time, all that they have rightfully earned from Gaia.

  11. Gromitt Gunn says:

    @Stormy Dragon: They address that in article – the average only includes those people planning to spend anything.

  12. michael reynolds says:

    @11B40:

    I kind of don’t think it’s much about gift giving, rather more about GOP efforts to keep women barefoot and pregnant — even when the pregnancy is the result of rape.

  13. Andre Kenji says:

    In Brazil, Mother´s Day is the second largest day for shopping, only losing to Christmas. It´s also a extremely important holiday in Mexico and in the rest of Latin America. That´s one of the reasons that the GOP is losing the Hispanic vote: deporting women while keeping their American born children in the US is a horrible idea for Latinos.

  14. Kari Q says:

    There’s also the sad fact that there just aren’t as many good gifts to buy fathers. Mothers like jewelry, perfume, clothing. What can you get Dad? If he plays a sport or is a fan of a specific team, then that’s an option. But what if he doesn’t? Uh, let’s see – ties are right out. Clothes (even excluding ties) aren’t as interesting to most men. Grilling equipment, maybe? I dunno. It’s hard to think of something that would appeal to the average father that is in the average gift giving range.

  15. superdestroyer says:

    In a country where close to 50% of children are born to single mothers and almost 50% of marriages end in divorce, the real question is whether anyone know their father in 20-30 years.

    What will happen to the culture of a country where most children never know their fathers and are raised by single mothers. My guess is that the U.S. will become a risk adverse country where entitlement spending pushes out all other spending and the government has replaced fathers in family life.

    the few upper class and upper middle class people who are raised by an intact family will have a massive advantage on everyone else.

  16. al-Ameda says:

    @superdestroyer:

    What will happen to the culture of a country where most children never know their fathers and are raised by single mothers. My guess is that the U.S. will become a risk adverse country where entitlement spending pushes out all other spending and the government has replaced fathers in family life.

    … and all this because of deadbeat dads.

  17. superdestroyer says:

    @al-Ameda:

    If you think that the absence of fathers is totally due to the behavior of men, then you are just one of the symptons of the changing culture of the U.S.

  18. al-Ameda says:

    @superdestroyer:

    If you think that the absence of fathers is totally due to the behavior of men, then you are just one of the symptons of the changing culture of the U.S.

    Okay, I’m open-minded on the subject – I’d say that only 98% to 99% of the “absence of fathers” situation is due to the behavior of men, the rest – 1% to 2% – is due to women.

  19. David D. from Philly says:

    Why is this a surprise? For mom, you get her a small gift, you take her out to eat, and you buy her flowers. For dad, the same, except no flowers. Don’t overthink it.