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UCLA's Williams Project Releases New Study Showing Same-Sex Parents Poorer than Married Parents: Less likely to Own a Home, Average Household Incomes $12,000 Lower

September 22, 2005

Today, UCLA's Williams Project released a study showing that same-sex couples with children have fewer financial resources than different-sex married parents with children.  The study analyzes economic and demographic data from Census 2000 about same-sex couples, aged 25-55, who are raising children.  Compared to married parents of the same age, same-sex parents have lower household incomes, lower home ownership rates, and lower levels of education than married parents. 

A series of previous Williams Project studies reached similar conclusions when focusing on Census 2000 data for the following states: California, Connecticut, Colorado, New Mexico, New York, Washington, and Oregon. The full text of the U.S. study and these state-specific studies is available at http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsproject.

"The picture of same-sex couples raising children presented by Census 2000 is quite different than the popular misconception that gay people as predominantly male, affluent, urban, white and childless," says Gary Gates, co-author of the study and Williams Project Senior Research Fellow.  "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." 

Key findings from the study include:

• More than 39% of same-sex couples in the United States aged 25-55 are raising children; they are raising more than 250,000 children under age 18.  
• The average household income for same-sex parents in the United States is almost $12,000 lower that that of married parents.
• The home ownership rate for same-sex parents is 15% lower than that for married parents.
• While 23% of same-sex parents have a college degree, 30% of married parents have a college degree.
• 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% have one member working while the other does not.
• Forty percent of same-sex parents are male and 60% are female. While female same-sex parents have lower household incomes than male same-sex parents, both groups have lower household incomes than married parents.
• Same-sex parents are more likely than married parents to be black and Latino.  The children of same-sex couples are similarly diverse: over 46% are children-of-color. Within each racial/ethnic group--Black, White, Asian Pacific Islander, and Latino/a--same-sex parents have lower household incomes than married parents of the same race or ethnicity.

The Williams Project is a national research center at UCLA School of law dedicated to advancing critical though in the field of sexual orientation law and public policy.  To learn more about the Williams Project, visit http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsproject.