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New Report: Same-Sex Marriages Don't Influence Heterosexuals

Evidence of Trends Gathered in Scandinavia and the Netherlands

Changes Among Modern Marrieds are Initiated by Heterosexuals

Compiled by GayToday

Amherst, Massachusetts--You can't prove a negative. But University of Massachusetts economist Lee Badgett demonstrates that the adoption of same-sex marriage and same-sex partnership rights in Scandinavia and the Netherlands has not changed previously-existing trends in marriage, divorce, cohabitation, or out-of-wedlock childbearing. Same-sex marriage has not undermined heterosexual marriage where it has been adopted and is unlikely do so in the United States.

Surprisingly, in many countries where there is greater tolerance for same-sex marriage and unwed childbearing, children actually spend more of their lives with their two biological parents than in the U.S.

In a briefing paper prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families and the Institute for Gay and Lesbian Strategic Studies, Professor Badgett presents evidence from Scandinavia and the Netherlands to make her case. Since the passage of partner recognition laws, and contrary to widely-quoted claims:

Heterosexual marriage rates in Denmark actually increased after adoption of same-sex marriage. They are now the highest they have been since the early 1970s. In other countries that adopted same-sex partnerships, marriage rates remained the same or increased slightly.

Divorce rates have remained the same.

The majority of families with children in Scandinavia and the Netherlands are still headed by married parents. In fact, in Norway, 77% of couples with children are married. And 75% of Dutch families with children include married couples. By comparison, 72% of U.S. families with children are headed by married couples.

(The reason that these strong marriage figures coexist with high rates of out-of-wedlock births is that in Scandinavia and the Netherlands most cohabiting couples marry after they start having children.)

Acceptance of same-sex partners has not weakened commitments to children. In fact, the average Scandinavian child spends more than 80 percent of his or her life living with both parents -- more time than the average American child!

No Difference:

According to Badgett, none of the evidence demonstrates that same-sex partnership laws were responsible for the slight increase in heterosexual marriages. The point is that the partner recognition laws have had no impact on the circumstances and situation of marriage and families in Scandinavia and the Netherlands.

Detailed comparisons:

Marriage and child-bearing have become less directly connected over time in most European countries and in the United States. In Denmark, the number of cohabiting couples with children rose by 25% in the 1990s. Roughly half of all births in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, and almost 2/3 in Iceland, are to parents who are not married. But these trends were well-established before adoption of same-sex marriage and have not increased faster since. In fact, Badgett's data shows that similar changes in family forms occurred at exactly the same rate in countries that did not adopt same-sex partner laws as in countries that did.

"In the end, the Scandinavian and Dutch experience suggests that there is little reason to worry that heterosexual people will flee marriage if gay and lesbian couples get the same rights," concludes Professor Badgett.

Stephanie Coontz, Director of Research and Public Education at CCF and a historian of marriage, says that her research leads to similar conclusions. "Most of the changes in marriage that we see today were initiated by heterosexuals, and they have been in the works for 50 years. Demands for recognition of same-sex partnership are more result than cause of the changes in the role of marriage in society."

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