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UCLA’S WILLIAMS INSTITUTE RELEASES NEW STUDY ANALYZING CENSUS DATA ON SAME-SEX COUPLES IN MASSACHUSETTS: NEARLY 24,000 COUPLES LIVE THROUGHOUT STATE; RAISING APPROXIMATELY 7,200 CHILDREN
 

Press Release
For Immediate Release

June 11, 2008

Media Contacts:
Lee Badgett 310-904-9761 / lbadgett@pubpol.umass.edu

LOS ANGELES - Today, the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law released a new research study providing demographic and economic information about the nearly 24,000 same-sex couples in Massachusetts. The study shows that 18% of the same-sex couples in Massachusetts are raising an estimated 7,200 children. The study also shows that same-sex couples and same-sex couples with children have economic resources to provide for their families similar to married couples and married couples with children respectively.

The full report may be found at:

http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/publications/MassachusettsCensusSnapshot.pdf

KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE:

·         In 2000, there were 17,099 same-sex couples living in Massachusetts. By 2005, the number of same-sex couples increased to 23,774.

·         There are an estimated 269,074 gay, lesbian, and bisexual people (single and coupled) currently living in Massachusetts.

·         Same-sex couples live in every county in Massachusetts and constitute 1.3% of coupled households and 0.7% of all households in the state. Middlesex County reported the most same-sex couples with 3,931 couples (0.70% of all households in the county), followed by Suffolk County with 3,505 couples (1.26%), and Essex County with 1,664 couples (0.60%). The counties with the highest percentage of same-sex couples are Hampshire County (1.53% of all county households), Suffolk County (1.26%), Franklin County (1.16%), and Nantucket County (1.05%).

·         Massachusetts’s same-sex couples are significantly more racially and ethnically diverse than their married counterparts: 15% of individuals in same-sex couples are nonwhite, compared to 12% of married individuals.

·         Despite the military’s historic policies of excluding gay men and lesbians from service, individuals in same-sex couples have served in the military: 6% of individuals in same-sex couples are veterans, compared to 15% of married individuals.

MASSACHUSETTS’S SAME-SEX COUPLES ARE RAISING CHILDREN WITH ECONOMIC RESOURCES SIMILAR TO MARRIED PARENTS

·         The median household income of same-sex couples with children is $70,000, compared to $74,830 for married parents. The average household income of same-sex couples with children is $95,758, compared to $94,777 for married parents.

·         While 64% of same-sex couples with children in Massachusetts own their home, a significantly larger percentage of married parents (80%) own their home.

SAME-SEX COUPLES ARE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THE MASSACHUSETTS ECONOMY

·         Individuals in same-sex couples in Massachusetts are significantly more likely to be employed than married individuals: 83% of individuals in same-sex couples are employed, compared to 69% of married individuals

·         Contrary to a popular stereotype, the annual earnings of men in same-sex couples are significantly lower than those of married men. On average, men in same-sex couples in Massachusetts earn $53,133 each year, significantly less than $60,739 for married men. The median income of men in same-sex couples in Massachusetts is $40,000, or 12% less than that of married men ($45,200).

·         Women in same-sex couples in Massachusetts earn an average of $40,256 per year (with a median of $33,000), more than married women, whose earnings average $31,029 (with a median of $25,000). Women in same-sex couples earn less than men in same-sex or married couples.

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