RAND Corporation: Legalizing Marriage for Same-Sex Couples Did Not Harm Family Formation in the United States

[essentialsaltes]

• RAND researchers reviewed 96 studies conducted over 20 years on the effects of granting same-sex couples access to legal marriage. The review found no reliable evidence of adverse consequences to the general U.S. population.
• On the contrary, the researchers found some evidence of an increase in marriage resulting from legalization of marriage between same-sex partners. This increase was not driven solely by newly marrying same-sex couples.
• The analyses found no evidence of a statistically significant increase in nonmarital cohabitation (living together while unmarried) by different-sex couples after states legalized marriage for same-sex couples.
• The researchers found no consistent changes in divorce as a consequence of legalizing marriage for same-sex couples.
• Finally, the researchers found no consistent evidence of a negative shift in young adults' attitudes toward the institution of marriage—and some evidence of an improvement—after states legalized marriage for same-sex couples.

The researchers' analyses suggest that the arguments available to opponents of legal marriage for same-sex couples today are narrower than they once were. Where once it was possible to speculate about the consequences of extending legal status to same-sex couples in the United States, now the consequences are known. There is no empirical basis for concerns that allowing same-sex couples to marry will negatively affect the intentions and choices of different-sex couples and families. The only empirical evidence of effects that the researchers found suggests that policies allowing marriage for same-sex couples lead to a renewed salience of marriage among the broader public.

 

[iluvatar5150]

• RAND researchers reviewed 96 studies conducted over 20 years on the effects of granting same-sex couples access to legal marriage. The review found no reliable evidence of adverse consequences to the general U.S. population.
• On the contrary, the researchers found some evidence of an increase in marriage resulting from legalization of marriage between same-sex partners. This increase was not driven solely by newly marrying same-sex couples.
• The analyses found no evidence of a statistically significant increase in nonmarital cohabitation (living together while unmarried) by different-sex couples after states legalized marriage for same-sex couples.
• The researchers found no consistent changes in divorce as a consequence of legalizing marriage for same-sex couples.
• Finally, the researchers found no consistent evidence of a negative shift in young adults' attitudes toward the institution of marriage—and some evidence of an improvement—after states legalized marriage for same-sex couples.

The researchers' analyses suggest that the arguments available to opponents of legal marriage for same-sex couples today are narrower than they once were. Where once it was possible to speculate about the consequences of extending legal status to same-sex couples in the United States, now the consequences are known. There is no empirical basis for concerns that allowing same-sex couples to marry will negatively affect the intentions and choices of different-sex couples and families. The only empirical evidence of effects that the researchers found suggests that policies allowing marriage for same-sex couples lead to a renewed salience of marriage among the broader public.

Wait, you mean to say that Dobson et al were full of it? And that the Christian right really has no idea what they're talking about with respect to people's motivations for things?

I'm shocked. SHOCKED!

 

[essentialsaltes]

I'm shocked. SHOCKED!

We were promised something like Venkman's speech near the end of Ghostbusters, but all we got was the mass hysteria from religious conservatives.

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

We were promised something like Venkman's speech near the end of Ghostbusters, but all we got was the mass hysteria from religious conservatives.

IDK, I know a few same sex couples and I think all of them have both a dog and a cat... 0_o