Marriage Equality Works

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Please note: This executive summary is republished from “Marriage Equality and the Creative Class” by Gary J. Gates from The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law

Marriage equality and the Creative Class
by Gary J. Gates
Executive summary

In the debate over extending marriage to same-sex couples, there have been several arguments about the positive economic impacts for states that do so. One argument is that marriage will attract some same-sex couples to move to a state, in particular young, mobile, and highly educated individuals—members of what has been called the creative class—who are vital to economic development in a post-industrial economy. Massachusetts, with five years of experience in extending marriage to same-sex couples, provides the first opportunity in the United States to empirically assess this argument.

Data from the American Community Survey suggest that marriage equality has a small but positive impact on the number of individuals in same-sex couples who are attracted to a state. However, marriage equality appears to have a larger impact on the types of individuals in same-sex couples who are attracted to a state. In Massachusetts, marriage equality resulted in an increase of younger, female, and more highly educated and skilled individuals in same-sex couples moving to the state. Specifically, the data show:

• Overall, from 2002 to 2004 Massachusetts saw a net loss of 603 individuals in same-sex couples. After marriage equality, it gained 119 individuals in same-sex couples.

• Creative class individuals in same-sex couples were 2.5 times more likely to move to Massachusetts in the three years after marriage equality than in the three years before. Among all states, Massachusetts ranked 3rd in this statistic. Among New England and Northeastern states, Massachusetts ranked 1st.

• Individuals in same-sex couples who moved to Massachusetts after marriage equality were younger than individuals who moved before –the average age fell from 41 to 29.

• Nearly seven in ten (69%) individuals in same-sex couples who moved to Massachusetts after marriage equality were female, compared to only 27% among those who moved before. This is consistent with data showing that approximately two-thirds of marriages in the state are among female couples.

• The proportion in the creative class among individuals in same-sex couples who moved to Massachusetts after marriage equality (86%) was nearly double the proportion among those who moved before marriage equality (45%).

• The Health and Marriage Equality in Massachusetts survey of 559 individuals who are part of a married same-sex couple in Massachusetts found that 8% had moved to the state. More than half (51%) of these said that marriage equality or the state’s LGBT rights climate was a factor in their decision to move there—20% cited this as the only factor for their move.

Analyses find no clear evidence for a distinctive impact of marriage equality on the migration patterns of all adults or of the creative class outside of those in same-sex couples. Assuming that LGBT-friendly policies provide a positive signal to the creative class, that signal may already have been established in Massachusetts, a state with a long history of support for LGBT-rights. Among the broader creative class population, marriage equality may constitute more of a confirmation of what was already known about Massachusetts rather than a signal of substantial change in the state. The evidence that marriage equality may enhance the ability of Massachusetts to attract highly-skilled creative class workers among those in same-sex couples offers some support that the policy has the potential to have a long-term positive economic impact.