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.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
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.
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).
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.”
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that is “relatively common among men who have sex with men” (Dee 2008:1056).
The states are Massachusetts (2004), Connecticut (2008), Vermont (2009), Iowa (2009), Washington, DC (2010), and New Hampshire (2010).
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.
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.”
The red tape, uncertainty, and high cost surrounding adoption and surrogacy can be traced to their being conceptually close to contracts on children.
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).
An overview of the Swedish Adoption Law is available online (http://www.adoptionpolicy.org/pdf/eu-sweden.pdf).
Details are available online (http://www.rfsl.se/?p=420).
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.
Generally, laws take force January 1 of the year following enactment.
Not reported; available from the authors on request.
References
Ahmed, A. M., Andersson, L., & Hammarstedt, M. (2011). Inter- and intra-household earnings differentials among homosexual and heterosexual couples. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 49(Suppl.), s258–s278.
Ahmed, A. M., Andersson, L., & Hammarstedt, M. (2013). Sexual orientation and full-time monthly earnings, by public and private sector: Evidence from Swedish register data. Review of Economics of the Household, 11, 83–108.
Ahmed, A. M., & Hammarstedt, M. (2010). Sexual orientation and earnings: A register data-based approach to identify homosexuals. Journal of Population Economics, 23, 835–849.
Akerlof, G., Yellen, J., & Katz, M. (1996). An analysis of out-of-wedlock childbearing in the United States. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 111, 277–317.
Allegretto, S. A., & Arthur, M. M. (2001). An empirical analysis of homosexual/heterosexual male earnings differentials: Unmarried and unequal? Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 54, 631–646.
Allen, D. W. (2013). High school graduation rates among children of same-sex households. Review of Economics of the Household, 11, 635–658.
Allen, D. W., Pakaluk, C., & Price, J. (2013). Nontraditional families and childhood progress through school: A comment on Rosenfeld. Demography, 50, 955–961.
Anderson, L. S. (2006). Protecting parent-child relationships: Determining parental rights of same-sex parents consistently despite varying recognition of their relationship. Pierce Law Review, 5, 1–29.
Andersson, G., & Kolk, M. (2011). Trends in childbearing and nuptiality in Sweden: An update with data up to 2007. Finnish Yearbook of Population Research, 46, 21–29.
Andersson, G., Noack, T., Seierstad, A., & Weedon-Fekjr, H. (2006). The demographics of same-sex marriages in Norway and Sweden. Demography, 43, 79–98.
Antonovics, K., & Town, R. (2004). Are all good men married? Uncovering the sources of the male marriage premium. American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings, 94, 317–321.
Appleton, S. (2006). Presuming women: Revisiting the presumption of the legitimacy in the same-sex couples era. Boston University Law Review, 86, 227–294.
Arabsheibani, G., Marin, A., & Wadsworth, J. (2004). In the pink: Homosexual-heterosexual wage differentials in the UK. International Journal of Manpower, 25, 343–354.
Arabsheibani, G., Marin, A., & Wadsworth, J. (2005). Gay pay in the UK. Economica, 72, 333–347.
Badgett, M. (1995). The wage effects of sexual orientation discrimination. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 48, 726–739.
Badgett, M. (2001). Money, myths, and change: The economic lives of lesbians and gay men. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Badgett, M., Gates, G., & Maisel, N. (2008). Registered domestic partnerships among gay men and lesbians: The role of economic factors. Review of Economics of the Household, 6, 327–346.
Becker, G. S. (1973). A theory of marriage: Part I. Journal of Political Economy, 81, 813–846.
Black, D., Gates, G., Sanders, S., & Taylor, L. (2008). Demographics of the gay and lesbian population in the United States: Evidence from available systematic data sources. Demography, 37, 139–154.
Burn, I., & Jackson, O. (2014). Valuable vows: An examination of the marriage premium using same-sex marriage legalization. Retrieved from http://nuweb.neu.edu/ojackson/papers/ssmbj.pdf
Carpenter, C. (2004). New evidence on gay and lesbian household incomes. Contemporary Economic Policy, 22, 78–94.
Carpenter, C. (2005). Self-reported sexual orientation and earnings: Evidence from California. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 58, 258–273.
Carpenter, C. (2008). Sexual orientation, income, and non-pecuniary economic outcomes: New evidence from young lesbians in Australia. Review of Economics of the Household, 6, 391–408.
Carpenter, C., & Gates, G. (2008). Gay and lesbian partnership: Evidence from California. Demography, 45, 573–590.
Chamie, J., & Mirkin, B. (2011). Same-sex marriage: A new social phenomenon. Population and Development Review, 37, 529–551.
Cherlin, A. J. (2004). The deinstitutionalization of American marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 848–861.
Clain, S. H., & Leppel, K. (2001). An investigation into sexual orientation discrimination as an explanation for wage differences. Applied Economics, 33, 37–47.
Cochran, S. (2001). Emerging issues in research on lesbians’ and gay men’s mental health: Does sexual orientation really matter? American Psychologist, 56, 931–947.
Cornwell, C., & Rupert, P. (1997). Unobservable individual effects, marriage and the earnings of young men. Economic Inquiry, 35, 285–294.
Dee, T. S. (2008). Forsaking all others? The effects of same-sex partnership laws on risky sex. The Economic Journal, 118, 1055–1078.
Dillender, M. (2014). The death of marriage? The effects of new forms of legal recognition on marriage rates. Demography, 51, 563–585.
Dillender, M. (2015). Health insurance and labor market outcomes: The effects of extending legal recognition to same-sex couples. Contemporary Economic Policy, 33, 381–394.
Dougherty, C. (2006). The marriage earnings premium as a distributed fixed effect. Journal of Human Resources, 41, 433–443.
Drydakis, N. (2011). Women’s sexual orientation and labor market outcomes in Greece. Feminist Economics, 17, 89–117.
Edlund, L. (2006). Marriage: Past, present, future? CESifo Economics Studies, 52, 621–639.
Edlund, L. (2013). The role of paternity presumption and custodial rights for understanding marriage patterns. Economica, 80, 650–669.
Edlund, L., & Korn, E. (2002). A theory of prostitution. Journal of Political Economy, 110, 181–214.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1951). Kinship and marriage among the Nuer. Oxford, UK: Oxford Clarendon Press.
Frank, D. J., Camp, B. J., & Boutcher, S. A. (2010). Worldwide trends in the criminal regulation of sex, 1945 to 2005. American Sociological Review, 75, 867–893.
Gilman, S., Cochran, S.-D., Mays, V. M., Hughes, M., Ostrow, D., & Kessler, R. (2001). Risks of psychiatric disorders among individuals reporting same-sex sexual partners in the National Comorbidity Survey. American Journal of Public Health, 91, 933–939.
Ginther, D. K., & Zavodny, M. (2001). Is the male marriage premium due to selection? The effect of shotgun weddings on the return to marriage. Journal of Population Economics, 14, 313–328.
Grossbard, S., & Jepsen, L. K. (2008). The economics of gay and lesbian couples: Introduction to a special issue on gay and lesbian households. Review of Economics of the Household, 6, 311–325.
Hammarstedt, M., Ahmed, A., & Andersson, L. (2015). Sexual prejudice and labour market outcomes for gays and lesbians: Evidence from Sweden. Feminist Economics, 21, 90–109.
Herrell, R., Goldberg, J., True, W. R., Ramakrishnam, V., Lyons, M., Eisen, S., & Tsuang, M. T. (1999). Sexual orientation and suicidality: A co-twin control study in adult men. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 867–874.
Holland, J. A. (2013). Love, marriage, then the baby carriage? Marriage timing and childbearing in Sweden. Demographic Research, 29(article 11), 275–305. doi:10.4054/DemRes2013.29.11
Jepsen, L. K., & Jepsen, C. A. (2002). An empirical analysis of the matching patterns of same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Demography, 39, 435–453.
Juhn, C., & Murphy, K. M. (1997). Wage inequality and family labor supply. Journal of Labor Economics, 15, 72–97.
Klawitter, M. M., & Flatt, V. (1998). The effects of state and local antidiscrimination policies on earnings for gays and lesbians. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 17, 658–686.
Korenman, S., & Neumark, D. (1991). Does marriage really make men more productive? Journal of Human Resources, 26, 282–307.
Krashinsky, H. A. (2004). Do marital status and computer usage really change the wage structure? Journal of Human Resources, 39, 774–791.
Lam, D. (1988). Marriage markets and assortative mating with household public goods: Theoretical results and empirical implications. Journal of Human Resources, 23, 462–487.
Langbein, L., & Yost, M. A. (2009). Same-sex marriage and negative externalities. Social Science Quarterly, 2, 292–309.
Moore, R. I. (2007). The formation of a persecuting society: Authority and deviance in Western Europe 950–1250 (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
Ohlsson-Wijk, S. (2014). Digit preferences in marriage formation in Sweden: Millennium marriages and birthday peaks. Demographic Research, 30(article 25), 739–752. doi:10.4054/DemRes.2014.30.25
Perelli-Harris, B., & Sanchez Gassen, N. (2012). How similar are cohabitation and marriage? Legal approaches to cohabitation across Western Europe. Population and Development Review, 38, 435–467.
Plug, E., & Berkhout, P. (2004). Effects of sexual preferences on earnings in the Netherlands. Journal of Population Economics, 17, 117–131.
Posner, R. (1992). Sex and reason. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Rosenfeld, M. (2010). Nontraditional families and childhood progress through school. Demography, 47, 755–775.
Rothblum, E. D. (2009). An overview of same-sex couples in relationships: A research area still at sea. In D. A. Hope (Ed.), Contemporary perspectives on lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities (pp. 113–139). New York, NY: Springer Science.
Sandfort, T., de Graaf, R., Bijl, R., & Schnabel, P. (2001). Same-sex behavior and psychiatric disorders: Findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Survey (NEMESIS). Archives of General Psychiatry, 58, 85–91.
Savolainen, M. (2003). The Finnish and the Swedish Partnership Acts – Similarities and divergencies. In K. Boele-Woelki & A. Fuchs (Eds.), Legal recognition of same-sex relationships in Europe: National, cross-border and European perspectives (pp. 24–40). Cambridge, UK: Intersentia.
Statistics Sweden (2009). Fler kvinnor än män gifte sig med person av samma kön (Pressmeddelande) [More women than men married someone of the same sex (Press Release)]. Retrieved from http://www.scb.se/sv/Hitta-statistik/Statistik-efteramne/Befolkning/Befolkningsframskrivningar/Demografisk-analys/55349/55356/Behallare-for-Press/Infor-Stockholm-Pride/
Stevenson, A. (2012). The labor supply and tax revenue consequences of federal same-sex marriage legalization. National Tax Journal, 65, 783–806.
Trandafir, M. (2015). Legal recognition of same-sex couples and family formation. Demography, 52, 113–151.
Waaldijk, K. (Ed.) (2005). More or less together: Levels of legal consequences of marriage, cohabitation and registered partnership for different-sex and same-sex partners (Document de Travail No. 125). Paris, France: Institut National d'Études Démographiques.
Zavodny, M. (2008). Is there a marriage premium for gay men? Review of Economics of the Household, 6, 269–389.
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.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
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
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-015-0403-4