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When it comes to June celebrations, Father’s Day is one of the most notable on the calendar, with 47% of U.S. adults planning to spend on a gift to celebrate the day. While this commemoration of fathers comes around every year, the circumstances in which shoppers make their purchases undoubtedly vary. Amid these varying circumstances, CivicScience has the most up-to-date insights on how Father’s Day is shaping up.
The Impact of Economic Uncertainty
As economic uncertainty continues to weigh heavily on American consumers, it may come as no surprise that Father’s Day gift spending is down. With more than half of Americans (53%) planning to keep costs at $0, the highest percentage since 2022. This is unsurprising to see, given 44% of those not planning to spend anything on Father’s Day gifts are ‘very’ concerned about tariff-driven impacts on their household expenses, outpacing gift spenders by 12 percentage points. This spending drop also aligns with a similar trend we observed in Mother’s Day spending last month. Those planning to spend more than $100 also declined, falling by four percentage points from 2024.
Among those who are spending, the data show that women and Gen Z (aged 18-29) are most likely to plan on spending more overall on their Father’s Day gifts this year.
Cast your Vote: Do you personally place greater emphasis on shopping for Father’s Day or Mother’s Day?
But spending isn’t the only way gift-buying plans have shifted since last year. Fresh data show Americans are most likely to purchase their Father’s Day gifts from a local store or restaurant, with 30% now indicating this as their intention. That’s an increase of four percentage points from June 2024. Meanwhile, the percentage of consumers planning to purchase from an online retailer has dropped by four points. This swap indicates that consumers are spending more in their communities, a welcome sight for small businesses.
When it comes to what gifters are planning on buying for dad this year, gift cards have emerged as the top likely gift, thanks to an increase of five percentage points. Meanwhile, clothing and shoes have overtaken tools and media for the third most likely gift, with intent for the latter dropping by two points this year.
Use this Data: CivicScience clients use real-time data like this to stay in sync with evolving purchase intent—helping them better support acquisition, retention, and local activation.
What Dad Really Wants
It’s one thing to assume you know what Dad wants, but it’s another to get the data straight from the source–especially since his preferences are a little different this year.
As the data show, while spending time with family is still the highest priority, interest in spending the day this way has dropped seven percentage points since last year. At the same time, going out for a meal–the second most-preferred choice–has increased two percentage points, and ‘doing something for myself,’ the third top pick, has increased by four percentage points. Notably, those who prefer to do something for themselves on Father’s Day also show the highest rates of feeling stressed over the past week, perhaps one of the reasons for their preference.Â
Take our Poll: Do you plan on celebrating Father’s Day this year?
This year, a variety of factors are shaping Father’s Day plans. Everything from lower-cost gifts, to more time alone is within reason for gift givers and receivers, who are navigating financial and emotional stress. That said, all is not lost–especially for local businesses, who may expect a greater investment as gift-givers choose to support local economies in the form of meals or gift cards amidst ongoing economic uncertainty.
