Marriage Discrimination Hard on Older Couples

October 22, 2004

WASHINGTON — One out of every ten same-sex couples has at least one partner over the age of 65 and that is causing concerns about the economic well-being of gay partners.

In a report prepared by the Urban Institute, researchers found that older same-sex couples struggle with the same retirement issues as heterosexual couples, but do not have the same golden-years security because the government does not recognize them as married.

Heterosexually married senior couples earn 4.3 percent, or $1,056, more in combined household retirement income on average each year than same-sex couples, according to the analysis prepared by the institute.

Same-sex couples 65 and older earn an average of $7,354 each in Social Security income, while each spouse in a heterosexual couple earns an average $7,770, the analysis indicates.

Surviving partners in same-sex couples on average receive $5,528 less annually from Social Security than surviving spouses, the Institute's report says.

Using the 2000 Census the researchers found that same-sex senior couples are clustered mainly in California, Florida, and New York.

When a gay, lesbian, or bisexual senior dies, his or her surviving partner faces a financial loss that can amount to tens of thousands of dollars because the couple cannot be recognized as legally married in the United States, the report says.