The Williams Institute

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, this report provides demographic and economic information about same-sex couples and same-sex couples raising children in Massachusetts. We compare same-sex “unmarried partners,” which the Census Bureau defines as an unmarried couple who “shares living quarters and has a close personal relationship,” to different-sex married couples in Massachusetts.

In many ways, the nearly 24,000 same-sex couples living in Massachusetts are similar to married couples. According to Census 2000, they live throughout the State, are racially and ethnically diverse, have partners who depend upon one another financially, and actively participate in Massachusetts’s economy. Census data also show that 18% of same-sex couples in Massachusetts are raising children, and they have similar economic resources to provide for their families as married couples.