Advertisement:

LOS ANGELES - Today, the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law released a new report that provides demographic and economic information for the more than 3,800 same-sex couples in Utah.  Using data from the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the study compared characteristics of Utah’s same-sex couples to their different-sex married counterparts.

The report finds that the more than 3,800 same-sex couples living in Utah live throughout the state, but over half live in Salt Lake County.  Individuals in same-sex couples are part of the larger lesbian, gay, and bisexual population in Utah, estimated to be between 47,000 and 63,000 individuals.

Nearly 60% of Utah’s same-sex couples are female, and individuals in same-sex couples are younger, on average, than married individuals (41 years old versus 46 years old).  Utah’s same-sex couples are racially and ethnically diverse.  More than 11% of individuals in same-sex couples in Utah are non-white.

Thirty-percent of Utah’s same-sex couples are raising an estimated 2,900 children.  Roughly 2% of Utah’s adopted children live with a gay or lesbian parent.

Overall, Utah’s same-sex couples and married couples have similar household incomes.  Average household income of same-sex couples and married couples in Utah differs by less than $3,000, with same-sex couples earning an average household income of $84,621 and married couples, $81,853.

However, same-sex couples raising children have lower average household incomes than married parents ($57,203 versus $82,383) and less likely to own their own home (50% versus 81%)

“In many ways, same-sex couples in Utah are similar to married couples,” said study co-author Lee Badgett, “however there are some notable differences among them, particularly when we look at the financial lives of couples raising children.”

Average individual earnings differ significantly between individuals in same-sex couples and individuals in married couples.  While individuals in same-sex couples are more likely to have a college degree (41% versus 31%), men in same-sex couples earn significantly less than married men.  The average individual income of men in same-sex couples is $42,937, compared to an average income of $56,569 for married men.  On average, women in same-sex couples earn more than married women ($36,821 versus $26,225), but less than both married men and men in same-sex couples.

Post a Comment:                                                                                     (0) Comments: