USA: Report Provides Insight Into Queer Families

A new study on queer families by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law reveals that an estimated 2.5 million LGBTQ adults are raising children in the United States.

The study found that 18% of LGBTQ people, roughly 2.57 million adults, are parenting children under the age of 18 in their households. Additionally, about 14% of same-sex couples (167,000 couples) and almost one in five married same-sex couples (18% or 119,000 couples) are raising minors in their homes.

“Queer family and community structures are similar to straight cisgender families in many ways, but there are some significant differences,” commented study author Lauren J.A. Bouton, Research Analyst at the Williams Institute.

“Many LGBTQ households include adult siblings or other relatives, indicating more diversity in family structure than the expected parental relationship. This could be an economic strategy to pool resources, a more expansive cultural definition of family, or both,” added Bouton.

The report utilises multiple data sources to provide parenting rates and sociodemographic characteristics of LGBTQ parents in the United States.

Results show that approximately 5 million children are being raised by an LGBTQ parent, including 2 million who live in an LGBTQ single-parent household and nearly 300,000 who are being raised by parents in same-sex couples.

The study also found that about 30% of LGBQ parents are not legally recognised or are unsure about their legal status as the parent or guardian of at least one child.

LGBTQ parents are more likely to live in poverty (33%) compared to LGBTQ non-parents (21%) and straight cisgender parents (21%). For most groups, married people are less likely to live in poverty.

“A significant proportion of LGBTQ adults are parents. Despite positive cultural shifts impacting family structure, LGBTQ parents remain a vulnerable group concerning economic stability, parental rights, and access to pathways to parenting,” noted lead author Bianca D.M. Wilson, Associate Professor at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs.

“Policies that aim to improve the lives of LGBTQ communities should focus on issues LGBTQ parents face, including barriers to accessing alternative reproductive technologies and adoption services as well as LGBTQ parental recognition rights, particularly for non-biological parents in same-sex couples,” urged Wilson.