Earnings Equality and Relationship Stability for Same-Sex and Heterosexual Couples

Abstract

This paper examines a topic of continuing interest for demographers and sociologists of the family: which factors promote relationship stability among couples. Two competing theories have been highly debated to explain how relative earnings relate to relationship quality and stability. The neoclassical economic theory posits that specialization of home and work duties leads to stability because partners fill complementary roles. Gender scholars propose an alternative explanation, suggesting that when couples violate the traditional male breadwinner model, they experience relationship strain and are more likely to experience a breakup. Using the new How Couples Meet and Stay Together (HCMST) dataset, this paper offers a unique perspective on the debate, by comparing same-sex couples to heterosexual couples. The paper presents three sets of analyses to determine how relative earnings relate to relationship stability. The first analysis employs discrete-time event history models to assess the likelihood of breakup for both heterosexual and same-sex cohabiting couples. Next, the paper presents results predicting self-reported relationship quality among married and cohabiting couples. The final analysis focuses on non-cohabiting couples from Wave I of the HCMST survey and examines the likelihood of entering cohabitation in subsequent survey waves. Results demonstrate that the economic or specialization model does not hold in same-sex relationships, suggesting that the effect of earnings equality is dependent upon gender norms in heterosexual relationships. When earnings power is disentangled from gender, as is the case of same-sex couples, equality in earnings promotes stability.

Partner Characteristics and Perceptions of Responsibility for Housework and Child Care

“…This oversight is largely practical; most national data sets do not include same-sex couples, and when they do, same-sex couples are a small minority (B. Powell, Bolzendahl, Geist, & Steelman, 2010;Reczek & Umberson, 2012;Weisshaar, 2014).…”

“…We make this distinction in the results, however, because scholars are increasingly pointing to differences in perceptions and experiences of gay and lesbian couples (Doan, Loehr, & Miller, 2014;B. Powell et al, 2010;Weisshaar, 2014).…”

“…Past research has often overlooked same‐sex couples when investigating the division of unpaid household labor. This oversight is largely practical; most national data sets do not include same‐sex couples, and when they do, same‐sex couples are a small minority (B. Powell, Bolzendahl, Geist, & Steelman, ; Reczek & Umberson, ; Weisshaar, ). Yet same‐sex couples may diverge from heterosexuals in key ways, thus affecting perceptions of responsibility for housework and child care.…”

“…We do not distinguish between gay men and lesbians in our hypotheses because little research on housework has incorporated same‐sex couples (but see Goldberg, ). We make this distinction in the results, however, because scholars are increasingly pointing to differences in perceptions and experiences of gay and lesbian couples (Doan, Loehr, & Miller, ; B. Powell et al, ; Weisshaar, ).…”

Couple Longevity in the Era of Same‐Sex Marriage in the United States

“…Family science has much to learn about marital patterns among same-sex couples, and the marital patterns of same-sex couples may offer insights into the changing nature of marriage and couple stability in general. I used data from the How Couples Meet and Stay Together (HCMST) surveys (Rosenfeld, Thomas, & Falcon, 2011, 2014 to compare couple dissolution rates for heterosexual and same-sex couples for the first time with nationally representative longitudinal data from the United States.…”