July 6, 2006
By Gary Gates
Senior Research Fellow
The Williams Institute
UCLA School of Law
gates@law.ucla.edu; 310.825.1868
The New York Court of Appeals ruled this morning that the state Constitution does not guarantee a right to marriage for same-sex couples, and that state lawmakers, not the courts, are better suited to consider the issue,” reports The New York Times. Thus, Massachusetts remains the only state that permits same-sex marriage.
It is time to redouble our efforts to understand the diversity in family forms that led to 44 couples pressing this case. Media images of lesbians and gay men create the impression that most of them are white urban dwellers who have high incomes and whose main preoccupations are shopping for expensive clothes, preparing gourmet food, or eating at upscale restaurants. As a result, a variety of stereotypes and misconceptions exist about lesbian and gay families with children. The Council on Contemporary Families recently drew up a quiz to test your knowledge of this population. The research material was prepared by Gary Gates, Ph.D, a Senior Research Fellow at The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.
I. What percentage of same-sex couples are raising children in the United States?
a. 3 percent
b. 11 percent
c. 27 percent
II. In which state are same-sex couples most likely to be raising children?
a. California
b. Massachusetts
c. Mississippi
d. South Carolina
III. What percentage of children being raised by same-sex couples are non-white?
a. 10 percent
b. 30 percent
c. 45 percent
IV. The median household income of different-sex married couples aged 25-55 with children in the U.S. is $60,700. What is the comparable figure of similarly aged same-sex couples raising children?
a. $96,200
b. $77,100
c. $51,900
V. Which of the following statements are true?
a. Most children being raised by same-sex couples are adopted.
b. Most research finds that children raised by gay and lesbian people fare as well as children from other families on a wide variety of child well-being measures.
c. Most children being raised by same-sex couples live in states where their parents can automatically obtain joint parental rights.
d. None of the above statements is true.
Answer Key
I. Answer: c. 27 percent
More than one in four of the nearly 600,000 same-sex couples identified in the U.S. census have a child under the age of 18 living in the home with them.
Source: Gary J. Gates and Jason Ost, The Gay and Lesbian Atlas, Urban Institute Press, 2004.
www.urban.org/gayatlas
II. Answer: c. Mississippi
Among the nearly 2,000 same-sex couples in Mississippi, as many as four in ten (41 percent) are raising children under age 18. Other states with high rates of child-rearing among same-sex couples include South Dakota (40 percent), Alaska (38 percent), South Carolina (36 percent) and Louisiana (35 percent).
Far from being an urban or coastal phenomenon, same-sex couples raising children are found in 96 percent of all counties in the United States. Three of the five large metropolitan areas with the highest rate of child-rearing among same-sex couples are found in Texas. San Antonio, Houston, and Fort Worth rank 1st, 4th, and 5th respectively. Bergen-Passaic, NJ and Memphis, TN rank 2nd and 3rd. In all of those areas, at least one in three same-sex couples are raising children.
Source: Gary J. Gates and Jason Ost, The Gay and Lesbian Atlas, Urban Institute Press, 2004.
www.urban.org/gayatlas
III. Answer: c. 45 percent
The children of same-sex couples are much more racially and ethnically diverse than those being raised by different-sex married couples. Among the children of same-sex couples, 55 percent are white, 23 percent are Latino/a, 15 percent are Black, 3 percent are Asian/Pacific Islander, 1 percent are Native American, the remaining 3 percent identified as some other racial category or as multi-racial. Thus 45 percent of these children are non-white compared to 30 percent of the children of different-sex married parents.
This racial and ethnic diversity among the children reflects similar diversity among their parents. While 73 percent of different-sex married couples (age 25-55) with children are white, only 59 percent of their same-sex coupled counterparts identify as white. Thus, same-sex parents are more racially and ethnically diverse than their different-sex counterparts and their children are even more diverse.
Source: R. Bradley Sears, Gary J. Gates, and William B. Rubenstein, Same-sex Couples and Same-sex Couples Raising Children in the United States: Data from Census 2000, The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, 2005.
http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/publications/USReportpdf
IV. Answer: c. $51,900
Same-sex couples with children in the U.S. have fewer economic resources to provide for their children than do their different-sex married counterparts. They have lower household incomes, are less educated, are less likely to own a home, and live in homes of lesser value.
Source: R. Bradley Sears, Gary J. Gates, and William B. Rubenstein, Same-sex Couples and Same-sex Couples Raising Children in the United States: Data from Census 2000, The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, 2005.
http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/publications/USReportpdf
V. Answer: Only b. is true.
a. False. Adoption rates are higher among same-sex couples than among different-sex couples (6 percent v. 4 percent), but the vast majority of children living with same-sex couples were identified as “natural born” in the U.S. Census.
Source: R. Bradley Sears, Gary J. Gates, and William B. Rubenstein, Same-sex Couples and Same-sex Couples Raising Children in the United States: Data from Census 2000, The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, 2005.
http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/publications/USReportpdf
b. True. Research on the impact of gay and lesbian parents on their children is relatively new and studies tend to be small and focused on subjects that are predominantly white and of relatively high economic status. However, findings across these studies are remarkably consistent in showing no negative consequences for children being raised by lesbian and gay parents with regard to standard child well-being measures.
Source: Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz, “(How) does the sexual orientation of parents matter?”, American Sociological Review, Vol. 66 (2), 2001.
c. False. About two-thirds of the quarter-million children being raised by same-sex couples counted in Census 2000 live in states that do not guarantee same-sex parents the right to petition courts for a second-parent adoption. Such adoptions ensure that both partners have legal status as parents. This status is important for a variety of reasons, including ensuring that either parent can make needed medical decisions for the child in an emergency situation.
Source: Lisa Bennett and Gary J. Gates, The Cost of Marriage Inequality to Children and Their Same-Sex Parents, Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 2004.
www.hrc.org/childrenreport
For Further Information
The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law is a national think tank dedicated to sexual orientation law and public policy. It advances law and public policy through rigorous and independent research and scholarship.
About CCF
The Council on Contemporary Families is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to providing the press and public with the latest research and best-practice findings about American families. Our members include demographers, economists, family therapists, historians, political scientists, psychologists, social workers, sociologists, as well as other family social scientists and practitioners. Founded in 1996 and based at the University of Miami, the Council’s mission is to enhance the national understanding of how and why contemporary families are changing, what needs and challenges they face, and how these needs can best be met.
To learn more about other briefing papers and about our annual April conferences, including complimentary press passes for journalists, contact Stephanie Coontz, CCF’s Director of Research and Public Education: coontzs@msn.com.
