Fathers Day – got a gift sorted? They did more for Mothers Day – fact.
New research from the UK’s leading discount website has revealed that father’s day gift searches were less than half of those made for mother’s day presents.
The site statistics, from www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, revealed that searches made for mother’s day gifts on site were 109% higher than the number of searches made for father’s day gifts in the weeks leading up to the event. The suggestion from the research is that ‘mothers are perhaps more doted on than fathers when it comes to gifts’. I don’t buy that.
I do buy that working fathers probably have less time to spend with their children making presents, and are more in the habit of splashing out on gifts. Mothers at home have less income at their disposal, but more time for making small thoughtful gifts for Fathers Day.
I also know that a lot of Mothers do their own searching, to create a few ‘suggestions’ to leave lying around in visible spots… Oh yes, we know you do… we have the site stats to prove it!
Of those who had only bought a gift for their mother, 53% explained that they didn’t buy a present for their dad because they ‘didn’t know what to get him’; whilst 27% said that they only bought a present for their mum because they ‘felt that they had to.’
It seems that dads who are lucky enough to get presents also get the short straw, as when they were asked to specify how much they spent on each parent, the average amount spent by respondents for mums was £50, whereas for dads it was just £22.
But I think this is a bit more complex, and has lots of different factors. The modern family unit is different – if a couple have split, will the mother spend time googling and searching for ‘the perfect gift’ for Fathers Day? Or will she pop to the shop and nab a card and a golfing mug?
And how many Fathers simply say ‘oh, I don’t want anything!” – and we believe them?
So – what do you do? Personally, we don’t do gifts for either. The children make their own cards, and spontaneously do nice things like make a cup of tea. Which, to me, is what it’s all about.
