Double Disadvantage? African American Same-Sex Couples: Evidence from Census 2000

Lisa Saunders, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
M.V. Lee Badgett, University of Massachusetts
Gary J. Gates, University of California, Los Angeles

Individual and household data from Census 2000 is used to examine the earnings opportunities afforded to a large sample of African American women and men in same-sex couples. The Census' Public Use Microdata Series (PUMS) is used, specifically, to document and examine race and gender wage differences among members of same-sex couples and to examine sexual orientation group differences (controlling for gender) among African Americans. We find that African American men in same-sex couples earn 10-16% less than white men in same-sex couples and about 5% less than African American men in different-sex couples. However they earn 9-10% more than African American women in same-sex couples. African American women earn 9-10% less than white women in same-sex couples and about 5% less than African American women in different-sex couples, though the latter result is very sensitive to the model specification.