Are Gay Men Really Rich? - Freakonomics
Contents:
- MEDIAN HOEHOLD E OF GAY UPL U.S. 2015-2021
- THE MYTH OF GAY AFFLUENCE
- DISSECTING THE HARMFUL MYTH OF GAY AFFLUENCE
- ARE GAY MEN REALLY RICH?
- GAY DISPOSABLE INE DURG THIS PANMIC
- GAY MEN USED TO EARN LS THAN STRAIGHT MEN; NOW THEY EARN MORE
- GAY PEOPLE EARN MORE, OWE LS
- THE GAY AND LBIAN MARKET THE U.S.: TRENDS AND OPPORTUNI THE LGBT COMMUNY, 6TH EDN
MEDIAN HOEHOLD E OF GAY UPL U.S. 2015-2021
The bed buyg power of U.S. lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr adults rose about 3.7 percent to $917 billn last year, rivalg the disposable e of other Amerin mory groups, acrdg to an annual analysis. * gay disposable income *
2015-2021Opn on step-child adoptn by homosexual upl Italy 2016Hoehold e share spent on rent by mimum wage upl Atralia 2022 by regnU.
To hear as Supreme Court Jtice Anton Slia would have , gays are a privileged set, livg up ci across the untry. Evans—a landmark 1996 se that overturned a Colorado state nstutnal amendment prohibg legal protectns for gays and lbians—“Those who engage homosexual nduct tend to ri disproportnate numbers certa muni.
THE MYTH OF GAY AFFLUENCE
This statistic shows the median hoehold e of gay upl (male-male) the Uned Stat om 2015 to 2021. * gay disposable income *
” Even more omoly, to Slia, they have "high disposable e, " which giv them "disproportnate polil power… to [achieve] not merely a gdgg social toleratn, but full social acceptance, of homosexualy. Some of the most graed public imag of LGBT people are their smopolan, highfalut liftyle; gays, so the story go, live gentrified urban neighborhoods like The Castro San Francis or Chelsea New York, eat artisanal chee, and drk $12 like most stereotyp, the myth of gay affluence is greatly realy, gay Amerins face disproportnately greater enomic challeng than their straight unterparts. One 5 gays and lbians aged 18-44 received food stamps the last year, pared wh jt over 1 4 same sex upl raisg children.
”And Alabama, like many other plac where gays of another generatn might have stayed the closet or left town altogether but today are g out, is poorer than Seattle.
DISSECTING THE HARMFUL MYTH OF GAY AFFLUENCE
U psychology doctoral ndidate Larissa McGarry reports that rearch on sexual orientatn has largely foced on whe, middle-class gay men, overlookg the diversy of LGB populatns and the add burns of fancial strs and poverty. * gay disposable income *
Progrs isn’t makg gays and lbians poor though, but is allowg more poor people to acknowledge their sexualy. As the numbers bee more readily available, remds of why the myth of gay affluence ever existed the first place.
The “gay liftyle” was the bastn of society’s most praved dividuals; sleazy bathho, leather bars, and so on. The image of gays and lbians began to change, however, once Wall Street and Madison Avenue realized that there was a vast, untapped market of potential nsumers.
ARE GAY MEN REALLY RICH?
* gay disposable income *
”Marketg firms nducted surveys to try to show not jt affluence, but disproportnate levels of brand loyalty were a hallmark of gays and lbians. In 2012, Experian, a natnal marketg firm, released a bs report claimg that the average hoehold e of a married or partnered gay man is nearly 20 percent more than a straight married or partnered man ($116, 000 pared to $94, 500). Further rptg the data, not all partnered gay people feel fortable clarg their sexualy surveys, and, a high-earng gay uple is more likely to report their sexual orientatn to a cens-taker than a low-earng uple, makg wealthier gay people overreprented natnal surveys.
In such surveys, the poverty and food-secury rat for LGBT people one 2010 anonymo survey of Amerins ag 18-44, gay men were found to have a poverty rate of 20. * * *Social scientist have tablished that gay men are more likely to work as teachers, nurs, secretari, and other jobs that are tradnally female domated and which don’t pay very well.
Addnally, nearly 40 percent of all homels youth are LGBT (often havg been kicked out of their hom by homophobic parents), puttg them at a great enomic disadvantage as they grow olr. A study nducted for the Amerin Journal of Soclogy sent two fict, but realistic, rum to more than 1, 700 entry-level, whe-llar job opengs, the only difference between the two beg that one rume listed membership a gay anizatn durg llege, while the other claimed experience a "Progrsive and Socialist Alliance" (sce both groups are nsired left-leang, the purpose was to separate any “gay penalty” om polil discrimatn).
GAY DISPOSABLE INE DURG THIS PANMIC
For 20 years, nearly all the studi on gay men the workplace have found an intil rult: parg the earngs of two men wh siar tn profil, years of experience, skills, and job rponsibili, gay men nsistently earns ls than straight men (between 5% and 10% ls). The stabily of this fdg has been remarkable: has been replited across numero datasets several different untri. Until now. In a recent paper, rearchers om Vanrbilt analyzed data om a major feral survey the Uned Stat that had not prevly been ed this lerature – prumably bee only recently began to ask about sexual orientatn – and found that the gay male earngs penalty had disappeared. * gay disposable income *
The difference amounts to a 40 percent higher chance of seemgly straight applints gettg lled back than explicly gay applints.
When asked ls directly though, people are more willg to nce they wouldn’t feel fortable workg wh or hirg an openly gay person.
* * *Popular culture has helped lnch gay people to the mastream, but for all the benefs that shows such as Will & Grace, Morn Fay, and Glee have had for the LGBT muny on the public’s nscns, few cultural outlets accurately reprent the reali gays and lbians face Ameri today.
GAY MEN USED TO EARN LS THAN STRAIGHT MEN; NOW THEY EARN MORE
Lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people earn more money, save more, have ls bt and are better prepared for retirement than the average Amerin, acrdg to a Pntial survey. * gay disposable income *
It holds back the entire gay equaly ignorance asi, Slia was more accurate than he knew when predictg the future of the gay rights movement.
Data om the Feral Rerve Board and Cens Bure pot to large gaps fancial out between adults and upl who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer and/or qutng (LGBTQ+) and those who intify as straight and cisgenr (dividuals whose current genr inty match their sex at birth). Bisexual women and bisexual men were more likely to have hoehold assets and vtments below $50, 000 than their straight, lbian or gay unterparts. The distributns of fancial assets for gay men and straight men were very siar, and the distributns for lbian women and straight women were siar as well.
GAY PEOPLE EARN MORE, OWE LS
The tersectn of genr inty and sexual orientatn is que stark here as well, wh 68% of straight men and straight women, 52% of gay men, 51% of lbian women, 52% of bisexual men, 39% of bisexual women and 36% of adults intifyg as transgenr, nonbary, a different inty, and/or somethg else owng their hom. Adults found that gay, lbian, or bisexual people are more likely to be sgle than heterosexual people.
THE GAY AND LBIAN MARKET THE U.S.: TRENDS AND OPPORTUNI THE LGBT COMMUNY, 6TH EDN
Supreme Court Jtice Anton Slia famoly argued that the high disposable e of gay Amerins giv them “disproportnate polil power. Evans, a landmark 1996 se that overturned a Colorado amendment prohibg legal protectns for gay men and lbian women.
Amerins who view lbian, gay and bisexual people as wealthier than average are signifintly ls likely to support gay rights, surveys suggt.