Study: Gay parents poorer
than straight ones

By Andrew Noyes - ©2005 Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network

   Same-sex couples with children have fewer financial resources than heterosexual married parents, with an average household income almost $12,000 less and a home ownership rate 15 percent lower, new research from UCLA shows.

   More than 39 percent of same-sex couples in the United States , age 25-55, are raising children, more than 250,000 of whom are under 18 years old.

   The picture of same-sex couples raising children presented by the 2000 U.S. Census is much different than the popular misconception that gay people are predominantly male, affluent, urban, white and childless, said Gary Gates, co-author of the study, sponsored by the Williams Project, which studies sexual orientation law.

   “Same-sex couples raising children are more racially and ethnically diverse and do not fare as well economically as their different-sex married counterparts. As such, they and their children are in particular need of the legal, social and economic benefits of marriage,” he said.

   While 23 percent of same-sex parents have a college degree, 30 percent of married parents have obtained higher education, the analysis indicates. Among couples with children, same-sex unmarried partners are just as likely as married couples to have one partner working and one not. For both sets of couples, 34 percent have one member working while the other does not. The study also found that 40 percent of parents in same-sex unions are male, and 60 percent are female.

   Gay and lesbian parents are also more likely than straight parents to be African American and Latino, and the children of same-sex couples are similarly diverse, researchers found. Over 46 percent are children of color.

   The study provides an indicator of how “inequality in marriage truly harms our families and our children,” said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Pride Coalition. “It's still the case that many LGBT parents are forced to spend significant amounts of money to cobble together whatever legal protections they can—if they are able to afford that at all—because they can't access all the rights and responsibilities of marriage that come freely to heterosexual couples and parents,” she told the PlanetOut Network.

   Same-sex households are diverse in numerous ways, Chrisler added. “We live in all areas of the country, we come from a variety of racial, socio-economic and educational backgrounds,” she said. “What we share is that our families are left more vulnerable because we don't have access to the protections and obligations that come with marriage.”

   With the exception of Massachusetts, where marriage for same-sex couples affords all the state protections that come with marriage, but none of the federal ones, LGBT families are left less protected, legally and financially, she said.

   A series of previous Williams Project studies reached similar conclusions when focusing on Census data for particular states, including California , Connecticut , Colorado , New Mexico , New York , Washington and Oregon .

Posted September 23, 2005