The New York Times has just published a major new piece on the costs of being a same-sex couple. Their conclusion? Lifetime added costs range from $28,595 to $211,993.
Authors Tara Siegel Bernard and Ron Lieber did extensive financial modeling and analysis, based on a hypothetical same-sex couple whom they chose to be similar to an “average” heterosexual one. The couple has two children, with one partner staying home for five years to take care of them. The authors make other socioeconomic and geographic assumptions, but lay them all out and attach a 25-page workbook for those who want the gory details.
They initially thought it would take a week to run the numbers. It really took two months, and the simulation of more than 900 tax returns. While I would love to see the numbers for a greater range of couples, that seems more a matter for academe. The article is well worth a read in any case. We need more data-driven arguments for equality to go along with the emotional and moral ones. Along with the economic and demographic work by the Williams Institute at UCLA, this article should be essential ammunition for positive change.
