Same-Sex Couples and the Marital Surplus: The Importance of the Legal Environment / Daniel S. Hamermesh, Scott Delhommer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hamermesh, Daniel S.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Delhommer, Scott.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w26875.

NBER working paper series no. w26875

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Same-Sex Couples and the Marital Surplus

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2020.

Summary:

Same-sex couples' marital surplus, their excess total income over that predicted by their work times and predicted wages, increases little as the duration of their relationship lengthens. When/where same-sex marriage is legal, it rises sharply as duration increases. The availability of legal domestic partnership or civil union has no effect on the surplus. The likelihood of home ownership conditional on demographic characteristics also increases with partnerships' duration only when/where same-sex marriage is legal. These results, based on data from the American Community Survey 2013-17, support the notion that greater legal protection enhances partners' incentives to invest in their relationship.

Notes:

Print version record

March 2020.