73% Say Being a Father is Most Important Role for Men in Today’s World

Today is Father’s Day, and most adults will be doing something for their dad today.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 18% of American Adults consider Father’s Day one of the nation’s most important holidays, while 17% consider it one of the least important. Most (62%) say it is somewhere in between. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Interestingly, men downplay the importance of Father’s Day as a holiday more than women—women are more likely to say it is one of the most important holidays or somewhere in between, while men are more likely to say it is one of the least important holidays.

Seventy-three percent (73%) continue to believe that being a father is the most important role a man can fill in today’s world. This, too, has changed little over the past several years. 

Of those whose father is still alive, 61% plan to visit their dad today, while 36% will call him. Fifty-seven percent (57%) will get him a gift.

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This nationwide survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on June 15-16, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.