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Effect of Registered Partnership on Labor Earnings and Fertility for Same-Sex Couples: Evidence From Swedish Register Data

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Demography

Abstract

The expansion of legal rights to same-sex couples is afoot in a number of Western countries. The effects of this rollout are not only important in their own right but can also provide a window on the institution of marriage and the rights bundled therein. In this article, using Swedish longitudinal register data covering 1994–2007, we study the impact of the extension of rights to same-sex couples on labor earnings and fertility. In 1994, registered partnership for same-sex couples was introduced, which conferred almost all rights and obligations of marriage—a notable exception being joint legal parenting, by default or election. The latter was added in the 2002 adoption act. We find registered partnership to be important to both gays and lesbians but for different reasons. For gays, resource pooling emerges as the main function of registered partnerships. For lesbians, registered partnership appears to be an important vehicle for family formation, especially after the 2002 adoption act. In contrast to heterosexual couples (included for comparison), we find no evidence of household specialization among lesbians. The lack of specialization is noteworthy given similar fertility effects of registered partnership (after 2002) and the fact that lesbian couples were less assortatively matched (on education) than heterosexual couples—children and unequal earnings power being two factors commonly believed to promote specialization.

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Notes

  1. In 2009, outside our sample period, registered partnership (RP) was replaced by same-sex marriage. However, other than the name, the principal change was to allow the ceremony to take place in the Swedish Church.

  2. For the United States, see Allegretto and Arthur (2001), Badgett (1995, 2001), Black et al. (2008), Carpenter (2004, 2005), Clain and Leppel (2001), and Klawitter and Flatt (1998). For Australia, see Carpenter (2008). For the UK, see Arabsheibani et al. (2004, 2005). For the Netherlands, see Plug and Berkhout (2004). For Greece, see Drydakis (2011). For Sweden, see Ahmed and Hammarstedt (2010), Ahmed et al. (2011, 2013), and Hammarstedt et al. (2015).

  3. Alternatively, it may be the result of the majority seeking control over resources in times of scarcity. Eleventh century Europe saw increasing scarcity of land as population growth picked up following improved agricultural practices. In that period, State-sanctioned persecution of Jews, lepers, male homosexuals, and heretics emerged to form what Moore (2007) coined “the prosecuting society.”

  4. For the United States, see Langbein and Yost (2009) and Dillender (2014). For the OECD, see Trandafir (2015).

  5. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that is “relatively common among men who have sex with men” (Dee 2008:1056).

  6. The states are Massachusetts (2004), Connecticut (2008), Vermont (2009), Iowa (2009), Washington, DC (2010), and New Hampshire (2010).

  7. Of the examples Becker listed, markets exist for quality of meals, prestige, recreation, and health status. Companionship and love may not have markets, but it is also hard to see how they depend on marriage or could be produced through specialization or be transferable between spouses.

  8. Becker (1973:815–816) abstracted from formal marriage “. . . two persons, M and F, who must decide whether to marry each other or remain single. For the present, ‘marriage’ simply means that they share the same household.”

  9. The red tape, uncertainty, and high cost surrounding adoption and surrogacy can be traced to their being conceptually close to contracts on children.

  10. For more information on the Swedish Partnership Act of 1994, see the legislative text (in Swedish), available online (http://www.notisum.se/rnp/sls/lag/19941117.HTM).

  11. An overview of the Swedish Adoption Law is available online (http://www.adoptionpolicy.org/pdf/eu-sweden.pdf).

  12. Details are available online (http://www.rfsl.se/?p=420).

  13. Retirement is mandatory at age 65. Employment beyond that is at the employer’s discretion, and extensions are easy for the first two years. The self-employed are exempt.

  14. Generally, laws take force January 1 of the year following enactment.

  15. Not reported; available from the authors on request.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the participants at the Conference on Discrimination and Labour Market Research in Växjö in May 2013, at the International Labour Process Conference at King’s College in London in 2014, and at the ESPE-conference in Braga, Portugal, in 2014 for valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Labour Market and Discrimination Studies, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden

    Lina Aldén & Mats Hammarstedt

  2. Department of Economics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Lena Edlund & Michael Mueller-Smith

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  1. Lina Aldén
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  2. Lena Edlund
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Correspondence to Lina Aldén.

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Aldén, L., Edlund, L., Hammarstedt, M. et al. Effect of Registered Partnership on Labor Earnings and Fertility for Same-Sex Couples: Evidence From Swedish Register Data. Demography 52, 1243–1268 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-015-0403-4

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