Is National Single Parent Day a public holiday?

No. It is a federal day of recognition, not a public holiday with a day off, so schools, offices, and banks stay open.

Is this just a modern internet observance?

No. It traces to documented federal action: Public Law 98-240 and Proclamation 5166, both dated March 21, 1984, decades before holiday-aggregator sites existed.

Who created National Single Parent Day?

The U.S. Congress passed the resolution (H.J. Res. 200) and President Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5166, both on March 21, 1984.

Why is it observed on March 21?

March 21 is the date Congress designated and President Reagan proclaimed in 1984. No primary source documents why that specific date was chosen.

How many single-parent households are there in the United States?

The U.S. Census Bureau counted about 9.8 million one-parent households in 2023, up from roughly 1.5 million in 1950.

Are most single parents mothers or fathers?

Mothers, by a wide margin. In 2022 the Census Bureau found about 80 percent of one-parent family groups with a child under 18 were maintained by a mother.

How do you observe National Single Parent Day?

People recognize and thank single parents in their lives and community, and read authoritative sources such as the Census Bureau's page on the day. It is a day of recognition rather than festivity.

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National Single Parent Day

A national day of recognition on March 21 honoring the dedication and contributions of single parents to their children's lives.

Sunday

March 2027

Last updated March 21, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar Team

Have an update or spot an error?

YEARLY DATEMarch 21

OBSERVED INUnited States

CATEGORYRelationships

SUBCATEGORYFamily

ORIGIN

Government Proclamation

FOUNDING ENTITY

U.S. Congress (H.J. Res. 200, Public Law 98-240) and President Ronald Reagan (Proclamation 5166)

FIRST OBSERVED

1984

“Congress passed Public Law 98-240 and President Reagan signed Proclamation 5166 on the same day, March 21, 1984.

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

A federal day of recognition, signed into the record in 1984.

Congress passed H.J. Res. 200, enacted as Public Law 98-240 and approved March 21, 1984, designating that day National Single Parent Day and requesting a presidential proclamation. President Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5166 the same day; the federal designation was for the single date March 21, 1984, and March 21 is the date observed annually since.

View Proclamation 5166via The American Presidency Project

INTRO

The national day that turned out to be federal law

PHOTO

In 1984, a federal document set out to honor single parents and, in the same breath, conceded something most observances would never put in writing. National Single Parent Day was not coined on a calendar site. It is law, passed by Congress and proclaimed by the President.

The candor is what stands out. The resolution's own text acknowledged that "in the past, single parent families have not always been an accepted part of society," a frank line for an official record to keep about the very families it was choosing to recognize.

The day asks for recognition, not pity, and the population behind it is large. The United States has the world's highest share of children living with a single parent: about 23 percent, more than three times the global figure of 7 percent. That ranking comes from a Pew Research Center study spanning 130 countries.

ORIGINS

Single Parent Day history

INTRODUCTION

The families this day recognizes existed long before any law named them. So did the work of organizing on their behalf. The story of National Single Parent Day starts not in Congress but in a church basement.

CHAPTER 01

A support network built from the ground up

In 1957, two single parents named Jim Egleson and Jacqueline Bernard founded Parents Without Partners in a Greenwich Village church basement in New York City. The first advertised meeting drew about 25 people. The organization grew to roughly 400 chapters by the 1960s and 1970s, a sign of how many parents were raising children alone and looking for one another.

CHAPTER 02

A country whose family map was changing

By the early 1980s the scale was hard to ignore. The 1984 federal resolution recorded fourteen million single parents in the United States, a number it said had doubled in the previous ten years. It also noted that single-parent families had not always been accepted, language that named a real social stigma rather than smoothing it over. The day was being written into a country still arguing about what a family should look like.

CHAPTER 03

The same-day federal act

The recognition itself moved quickly through Washington. The House passed H.J. Res. 200 on March 14, 1984. The Senate followed six days later. The next day, March 21, the resolution was approved as Public Law 98-240, and President Reagan issued Proclamation 5166 the same day. The designation was for that single date in 1984, yet March 21 has been the day observed ever since.

TIMELINE

Timeline

Parents Without Partners founded

Jim Egleson and Jacqueline Bernard start the single-parent support nonprofit in a New York City church basement, drawing about 25 people to the first meeting.

House passes the resolution

The U.S. House of Representatives considers and passes H.J. Res. 200 on March 14, 1984.

Senate passes the resolution

The U.S. Senate passes H.J. Res. 200 on March 20, 1984, sending it toward final approval.

Law signed, proclamation issued

On March 21 the resolution becomes Public Law 98-240, and President Reagan issues Proclamation 5166 the same day, designating National Single Parent Day.

Pew ranks the US highest

A Pew Research Center study of 130 countries finds the United States has the world's highest share of children living in single-parent households.

Census Bureau marks the day

The U.S. Census Bureau publishes a National Single Parent Day statistics page, reporting 9.8 million one-parent households in 2023.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Single Parent Day by the Numbers

9.8M: US one-parent households, 2023
1.5M: US one-parent households, 1950
80%: One-parent groups led by mothers
15%: Canada children with one parent
3%: China children with one parent

GOOD TO KNOW

Surprising facts about National Single Parent Day

A federal text named the stigma out loud

The 1984 resolution stated plainly that single-parent families "have not always been an accepted part of society," unusual candor for an official document honoring them.

The 1984 record put the lifetime figure near half

Reagan's proclamation stated that, as of 1984, about half of the nation's children would live part of their lives with a single parent before turning eighteen. That was the document's period framing, not a current statistic.

The Census Bureau observes it itself

The U.S. Census Bureau publishes a dedicated National Single Parent Day statistics page each year, tying the observance directly to Public Law 98-240.

It predates the modern national-day boom

The day was set by federal action in 1984, decades before the holiday-aggregator sites that now mint observances, which is unusual for a "National ___ Day."

The 1984 designation was for one date only

Public Law 98-240 named March 21, 1984, specifically, not a permanent annual statute, yet March 21 has been observed every year since.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why National Single Parent Day Matters

RECOGNITION

Single parents deserve our recognition and appreciation for their demonstrated dedication to their young.

The founding proclamation set the tone the day still keeps, calling single parents deserving of recognition and appreciation rather than concern. That choice of words shapes a day meant to honor effort, not to study a problem.

SCALE

It marks a defining feature of American family life

The United States has the world's highest share of children living with a single parent, a structural fact about how families are organized here. A national day gives that reality a fixed point of public attention each March.

AUTHORITY

A federal agency keeps the record current

The U.S. Census Bureau publishes fresh figures on single-parent households each year to mark the day. That treatment by a statistical agency keeps the observance grounded in data rather than sentiment.

GET INVOLVED

How to Observe National Single Parent Day

Read the founding record

Spend a few minutes with the 1984 proclamation and resolution that created the day. Reading the original language is the clearest way to understand what it set out to recognize.

RECOGNIZE

Recognize a single parent you know

Acknowledge the work of a single parent in your own life or community in a way that fits them. The day is built around recognition and appreciation, so a direct, genuine thank-you matches its spirit.

LOOK

Look up the current numbers

Read the U.S. Census Bureau's page for the latest count of single-parent households. It is the authoritative source the day's data is drawn from.

LEARN

Learn about a support organization

Read about Parents Without Partners, the nonprofit founded in 1957 that has long connected single parents. Its history offers context for why a day of recognition came to exist.

Share verified facts, not assumptions

If you mention the day online or in a classroom, point to Census or Pew figures rather than secondhand claims. Attributing the numbers keeps the conversation accurate on a topic that is easy to get wrong.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know National Single Parent Day?

1 / 8

Which president signed the proclamation establishing National Single Parent Day?

GET INVOLVED

Resources and Support

U.S. Census Bureau, National Single Parent Day

U.S. Census Bureau, National Single Parent Day. The federal statistics page tying the observance to Public Law 98-240, with the latest household counts.

THE

The American Presidency Project, Proclamation 5166

The American Presidency Project, Proclamation 5166. The full text of the 1984 presidential proclamation that established the day.

PARENTS

Parents Without Partners

Parents Without Partners. The single-parent support nonprofit founded in 1957, with its own account of its history.

Answer

It falls on March 21 each year in the United States, the date set by the 1984 federal designation.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

7sources

7primary records

6independently dated

The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara)1984-03-21

Proclamation 5166, National Single Parent Day, 1984

The full presidential proclamation signed by Ronald Reagan designating March 21, 1984.

View source

U.S. Congress (congress.gov)1984-03-21

Public Law 98-240 (H.J. Res. 200), 98 Stat. 94

The statute designating March 21, 1984, as National Single Parent Day, with its findings and legislative dates.

View source

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library1984-03-21

Proclamation 5166, National Single Parent Day, 1984

The issuing administration's own copy of the 1984 proclamation, with its verbatim recognition language.

View source

U.S. Census Bureau2024

National Single Parent Day: March 21, 2024

Federal statistics page reporting 9.8 million one-parent households in 2023, up from 1.5 million in 1950.

View source

U.S. Census Bureau2022

Census Bureau Releases New Estimates on America's Families and Living Arrangements

2022 estimates showing 10.9 million one-parent family groups, about 80 percent maintained by mothers.

View source

Pew Research Center2019-12-12

U.S. has world's highest rate of children living in single-parent households

A 130-country study finding 23 percent of US children live with one parent, versus 7 percent globally.

View source

Parents Without Partners

About / History

The nonprofit's account of its 1957 founding by Jim Egleson and Jacqueline Bernard and its early growth.

View source

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