Same-Sex Parents Earn Less than Married Counterparts
‘œLove makes a family.’ ‘“ Gigi Kaeser
It is estimated that at least six million children in the U.S. have LGBT parents. According to the National Center for Lesbian Rights, ‘œStudies have shown that on average, same-sex parents with children earn $10,000 less than married couples with children.’
At Mombian, the lesbian parenting blog, Dana Rudolph directed me to new studies from the Williams Institute at UCLA with findings that show same-sex parents in three states (Illinois, Michigan and Rhode Island) have ‘˜significantly’ lower median incomes than opposite-sex married people. She also notes that, ‘œSame-sex parents in those states are also less likely than married parents to own their homes.’
In Bryan Ochalla’s analysis at GayWired.com, he asks, ‘œExactly how were same-sex couples raising children in these states found to be at an economical disadvantage compared to their straight counterparts?’ He cites stats from the study on median income and gay & lesbian parents come up short in all three places.
Why do you think that is? Rudolph gives her thoughts. Time magazine columnist, Po Bronson has his ideas about the plight of gay and lesbian parents and I thought it was quite interesting.
On his website, he writes, ‘œI know when people say ‘˜gay family,’ the picture that pops into our heads is two men, in their mid-thirties, living in San Francisco, proudly toting their newly adopted baby. But if that is the only image we ever think about when we discuss gay marriage or same-sex couples raising children, then I’m afraid we could all be missing the Big Picture.’
Bronson continues, ‘œBecause while there are couples like that out there, they aren’t representative of gay families in the U.S. today. The real poster child for a gay family isn’t that baby. Instead, it’s a kid who probably lives in the Deep South. His mom and dad got married too young, but everything seemed okay for a while, until . . . things slowly unraveled. Finally, his mom came out, and his parents got a divorce. Now, Mom’s got a girlfriend ‘“ and it seems like there isn’t another gay couple in the county.’
He then points to these numbers: ‘œThe estimated number of lesbian and gay parents who have had children during prior opposite-sex relationships is between 3 and 5 million.’
And then concludes: ‘œMost of the children with lesbian or gay parents were conceived in the context of a heterosexual relationship. Many may have lived with both their heterosexual parents for at least the first few years of their lives. If the lesbian or gay parent decides to ‘˜come out,’ the couple may divorce, but continue to share child-rearing responsibilities.’
Based on the number of lesbian couples sitting in the waiting room of our fertility specialist, I have to believe that Bronson conclusions will change with time. We know a lot of lesbians and gay men with children that came from their same-sex relationship. But academic studies are interesting and the findings are a bit like those that use the Bible to make a point. You can make it say whatever you want it to say. That’s what interpretation is all about.
So what do you think? Do a mental ‘œstudy’ and tell us your findings when you examine the lives of your gay and lesbian friends with children. Are they living as well as their straight friends and neighbors? If so, then why do the studies state otherwise. If not, then what’s causing the gap? Please feel free to comment below.
Just throwing it out there–are they including benefits as well? Because a number of companies don’t offer spousal benefits for gay couples. And, since they’re out, has it limited their job possibilities due to subtle discrimination? Or maybe one partner works less to make sure they’re good parents, since they may be feeling defensive and want to be sure they do a good job.
I find it particularly interesting since some people seem to believe that only rich people or upper-middle class people are glbtq.
Do you happen to know the statistics broken down by race? I wonder if certain races are ‘penalized’ more economically for being gay than others.
Also, I assume that out gay couples are more likely to live in and near cities, and property values tend to be higher in cities. If this is the case, then lower home ownership rates for gay couples aren’t necessarily a sign of being worse off.
There’s an easy answer here that is being overlooked:
1. More same-sex female couples raise children than same-sex male couples.
2. Women make less than men.
For point #1, I can’t find statistics for the US, but I did find some for Canada. According to the 2001 census data from Canada, “About 15% of the 15,200 female same-sex couples are living with children, compared to only 3% of male same-sex couples.” That’s a huge difference. That means 83% of all same-sex couples with children are female.
The same UCLA studies you cited above already support point #2, along with about a zillion other studies.
Also, consider some other statistics from the study. For instance, the data from Illinois says:
“The median income of same-sex couple households in Illinois is $65,200, which is similar to the $63,400 median for married couples. The average household income of same-sex couples is $85,364, which is not statistically significantly different from $80,209 for married couples.”
The data for Michigan and Rhode Island shows the same thing. So we know that overall, same-sex couples actually are making about the same amount as straight couples. The disparity only happens when you narrow it down to same-sex couples with children, which, based on the Canada statistics, are far more likely to be women than men.
So I think this study is just telling us something we already knew. Women make less than men, and are less likely to own houses. I’m kind of surprised the people behind the study didn’t break it down by sex to make the conclusions more meaningful, but I guess that would have made it less interesting.
Mrs. Micah: I’m pretty certain benefits aren’t factored in here but you make a good point – it would indicate an even wider gap since many companies still do not offer domestic partner benefits.
AJ: Another interesting point but no, they don’t break it out by race. There have been studies based on race and same sex couples – see this one from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force as an example.
Bill: Yep, all makes sense. Anya Kamenetz at Yahoo! Personal Finance just wrote a column about women making less than men. It was amazing how many of the Yahoos (and I suspect male) try to dispute this statistic. Also, Paula wrote an interesting post here awhile back on the subject: How $0.25 Leaves Lesbian Households Millions Short.
The WIlliams Institute has also been one of the voices reminding us how many same-sex parents are, as Bronson’s says “non-intentional,” i.e., had kids in opposite-sex relationships before they came out. (See my earlier post citing an article about this.)
While the pay gap between women and men is certainly part of the explanation, I find it interesting that, as I said in my post, “women in same-sex couples (parents and not) earn ‘significantly more’ on average than married women.” This means we can’t just take the average U.S. pay gap and apply it to same-sex couples. There’s clearly room for much further research on the subject of LGBT families and incomes . . . I’m looking forward to it.