Williams Institute scholars available to comment and provide legal and demographic analysis
Today, a federal district court in South Carolina ruled that state’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
In South Carolina, there are more than 7,200 cohabiting same-sex couples, of whom an estimated 19% are raising more than 2,700 children in their homes.
Williams Institute research also suggests that 3,607 of these couples will marry in the first 3 years, generating $25.2 million in spending in South Carolina and an additional $1.8 million in sales tax revenue. Spending related to same-sex couples’ wedding ceremonies and celebrations is expected to create 84 to 253 jobs in the tourism and recreation sector for the state. A full version of the state report is available here.
Key nationwide statistics include:
Nearly 7 in 10 (69%) same-sex couples across the country will soon be living in states where they can marry and nearly two-thirds of Americans will soon be living in states that allow marriage for same-sex couples. These are the states and D.C. where same-sex marriage is presently legal, as well as the states where same-sex marriage is currently prohibited but where federal appellate courts have issued binding decisions against same-sex marriage bans.
Williams Institute research suggests that there were 690,000 same-sex couples in the US in 2013 raising an estimated 200,000 children. As many as 30,000 of those children are being raised by married parents.
Recent Williams Institute analyses suggest that the number of married same-sex couples, estimated to be as high as 130,000 in 2013, has increased by more than 50% over the last 3 years.
Williams Institute scholars have filed amicus briefs in, and severed as expert witnesses in, many cases concerning marriage rights for same-sex couples, and numerous courts have relied explicitly on William Institute research in striking down bans on marriage for same-sex couples.
