Abstract
Using data from the 2008 to 2018 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), we explore compositional differences between single, common-law, and married individuals by sexual orientation in Canada. Specifically, we focus on how single versus partnered lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals differ in sociodemographic characteristics, education, hours worked, and health relative to their heterosexual counterparts. While same-sex unions and parenthood have increased considerably over the last two decades, LGB individuals are less likely to be married or to live in a household with children under the age of 12, relative to heterosexuals. Heterosexual men benefit the most from marriage, whether through productivity, positive selection, or cultural norms of the ideal worker. This is especially the case in terms of employment and earnings. Having children under the age of 12 in the household was strongly correlated with partnership for all LGB people, especially for married gay men. Overall, there were fewer correlates of partnership for LGB people than heterosexuals, suggesting greater diversity in who is partnered and to whom, within the LGB community, than for heterosexuals.
Résumé
En nous fondant sur les données de l’Enquête sur la santé dans les collectivités canadiennes (ESCC) recueillies entre 2008 et 2018, nous étudions les différences de composition entre les groupes de personnes vivant seules, en union de fait et mariées en fonction de leur orientation sexuelle. Nous accordons un intérêt tout particulier à la façon dont les caractéristiques sociodémographiques, le niveau d’étude, le temps de travail et la santé des personnes gaies, lesbiennes et bisexuelles (LGB) vivant seules et en couple diffèrent de celles des personnes hétérosexuelles en situation matrimoniale comparable. Bien que le concubinage homosexuel et l’homoparentalité aient sensiblement progressé au cours des vingt dernières années, les personnes LGB sont moins susceptibles que les personnes hétérosexuelles d’être mariées ou de vivre dans un ménage comprenant des enfants de moins de douze ans. En raison de ses effets sur la productivité – elle-même facteur d’attractivité sur le plan matrimonial – ou des normes culturelles du « travailleur idéal » qu’il véhicule, le mariage profite surtout aux hommes hétérosexuels, notamment en termes d’emploi et de revenus. Parmi toute la population LGB, la présence d’enfants de moins de 12 ans au sein d’un ménage est. étroitement liée à la vie en couple, notamment chez les hommes gais mariés. De façon générale, les couples hétérosexuels présentent davantage de similitudes que les couples LGB, suggérant une plus grande diversité de profils dans les unions au sein de la communauté lesbienne, gaie et bisexuelle.
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Data Availability
The data used in this paper is considered confidential by Statistics Canada. It can be accessed for research purposes through the Canadian Research Data Centre Network (https://crdcn.org/).
Notes
Canada was the first country in North America to federally legalize same-sex marriage on July 20, 2005. Ontario and British Columbia began recognizing same-sex marriages in 2003.
We use the terms common-law and cohabiting interchangeably throughout the paper.
A previously separated, divorced, or widowed person who was married or common-law at the time of the survey is included in the sample.
Some models include a control for spouse’s age, which was only available in the 2009 to 2018 CCHS cycles. The sample size is slightly reduced in these models.
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Partial funding for this project came from the Social Science & Humanities Review Board (SSHRB) Seed Research Grant at the University of Western Ontario. Grant no. 43587. Additional funding was provided by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant no. 435–2019-0151.
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Waite, S., Denier, N. & Pajovic, V. Who’s Hitched? Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Partnering in Canada. Can. Stud. Popul. 48, 403–439 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42650-021-00059-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42650-021-00059-7