Dads worth more than £3,000 a year for help and advice

With Father’s Day around the corner (June 16), I trawled the net looking for inspiring things to do to celebrate the big day. Unfortunately, most of the suggestions were rather nauseating – write your dad a poem, plant a tree for your dad, ask him what he wants to do – so I decided to write about the value of our fathers and the other important men in our lives.

This brought me into contact with an interesting piece of research from Saga Home Emergency. I know, it probably doesn’t sound that interesting, but I thought it was, so here goes.

The study showed that fathers spend two-and-a-half days a month, on average, helping out or advising their adult children on a range of practical issues. 

The most popular reason people call on their fathers is to help with DIY, with 46% of children asking for help with this. Around 42% get their father's help with a home emergency and 40% get financial advice from their dads.

On average, women get three days and men two days of help a month from their fathers. When multiplied by the average male salary, this equates to a whopping £3,387 a year!

While those aged 18-24 appear to be the most reliant, around half of those aged 35-44 still regularly turn to their dads for help. Even when children reach their fifties, a third of fathers are still asked for help with DIY, money matters and home emergencies.

Chief executive at Saga Services, Roger Ramsden, says: "Perhaps, if an emergency should arise on Father's Day, children will remember to give their dad a break and call out an expert. At the very least they should pop round to make their dad a well-earned cup of tea!"

That doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me - our dads certainly deserve to be treated this Father's Day; not just for the help and advice they give us, but for all they do year in year out.

Even better, you could sign your dad up for a subscription to Sorted magazine so he knows he is valued all year long. 

Alternatively, you could buy a bumper box of 40 copies for just £50 and treat all the guys who have touched your life!

How are you planning to spend Father’s Day? We’d love to hear your un-nauseating suggestions! Happy Father's Day to all our readers.