Father Figures
To acknowledge the positive role of fathers, Statistics New Zealand offers the following facts about fathers for
Father's Day on Sunday 3 September:
• A baby will be a Father's Day present for an estimated 135 men this year.
• The average age of fathers of new babies is 33 years, but one in 100 babies has a father aged 50 years or over.
• Today's newborn babies have fathers who are, on average, five years older than their own fathers were when they
were born.
• Fathers with children aged under a year old manage 42 minutes less sleep than the average of 8.5 hours.
• Over a lifetime, fathers have seven fewer Father’s Days, on average, than mothers have Mother’s Days. This is
because men generally start parenting later in life and women have a longer life span
• More than a quarter (27 percent) of babies born in New Zealand last year were to fathers who were not themselves
born in New Zealand. This compares with 21 percent a decade ago.
• Father's Day is celebrated at different times around the world. While in many countries it is observed on the
third Sunday in June a well travelled father could celebrate eight Father's Days. In New Zealand in September, Norway in
November, Thailand in December, Russia in February, Portugal in March, Lithuania in June, Dominican Republic in July and
Brazil in August.
ENDS