Federal court hears testimony on economics of same-sex marriage

Lee Badgett, research director of the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School, testified this week in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial in San Francisco on the demographic characteristics of same-sex couples and their children, the economic effects of excluding same-sex couples from marriage, and how marriage equality might affect society and the institution of marriage.

In response to a question from plaintiffs' attorney David Boies about the economic harms to same-sex couples with children who are not able to marry, Badgett testified, “It's costing couples thousands of dollars a year in additional costs because they can't marry…that's thousands of dollars that will not be available to spend on children or to save for their college education or whatever parents might want to actually do with that money."

Badgett’s testimony drew on analyses that are part of her new book, When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-sex Marriage, along with a series of studies she has authored assessing the economic impacts associated with marriage equality.  She also referenced several Williams Institute studies using Census Bureau data to describe the demographic characteristics of same-sex couples and their children.

In summarizing her work, Badgett testified, “I have looked at demographic data. I have looked at the reasons same-sex couples give for marrying.  I have looked at how they are treated after they are married by their heterosexual communities and families.  I have looked at behavior of heterosexual individuals before and after same-sex couples were allowed to marry, and I have seen no evidence of any harmful effect of allowing same-sex couples to marry.”

Click here for a full transcript of the trial, including Badgett’s testimony (Day 6). Click here for Associated Press story on Badgett’s testimony.

-SS