November 16, 2012
Same-Sex Marriage Will Generate Over $166 Million in First Three Years
Mark Thompson READ TIME: 2 MIN.
LOS ANGELES - The Williams Institute estimates that extending marriage to same-sex couples in Maine, Maryland, and Washington State will generate over $166 million in wedding spending in the first three years.
"This additional spending will be good for business, boost state and local tax revenues, and create new jobs," said Lee Badgett, Williams Institute Research Director and Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Same-sex marriages will begin in December in Washington State and January 2013 in Maine and Maryland.
The new estimates are based upon Census 2010 data, average wedding expenditures in the states, and state tourism reports. The estimates assume that 50% of same-sex couples in each state will marry in the first three years, consistent with the experiences of other states that have opened marriage to same-sex couples.
The new estimates do not take into account resident same-sex couples who are already married in each state or registered as domestic partners. These couples may already have had a wedding or may spend less if they have already registered.
For example, if all of the 7,518 existing Washington resident same-sex couples registered as domestic partners were to marry or convert their registered domestic partnership into a marriage without holding a celebration, the estimated rise in wedding spending would be lower, or approximately $18 million over the first three years.
The estimates also do not include out-of-state same-sex couples that decide to travel to these states to marry. For example, over 1,200 out-of-state couples traveled to Iowa in the first year the state opened marriage to same-sex couples. Out-of-state couples would generate additional spending on wedding-related goods and services and, most likely, on tourism-related goods and services.
The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy advances law and public policy through rigorous, independent research and scholarship, and disseminates its work through a variety of education programs and media to judges, legislators, lawyers, other policy makers, and the public. A national think tank at UCLA Law, the Williams Institute produces high quality research with real-world relevance.
For more information go to: www.williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/
A long-term New Yorker and a member of New York Travel Writers Association, Mark Thompson has also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The author of the novels WOLFCHILD and MY HAWAIIAN PENTHOUSE, he has a PhD in American Studies and is the recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center. His work has appeared in numerous publications.
