A new study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds that 18% of LGBTQ people, roughly 2.57 million adults, are parenting children under the age of 18 in their households. The study also finds that about 14% of same-sex couples (167,000 couples) and almost one in five married same-sex couples (18% or 119,000 couples) are parenting minors in their homes.
Among parents, same-sex couples adopt (21%), foster (4%), and have stepchildren (17%) at significantly higher rates than different-sex couples (3%, 0.4%, 6%). Approximately 35,000 same-sex couples parenting minors have adopted, and 6,000 are fostering children. Notably, 24% of married same-sex couples have adopted a child compared to 3% of married different-sex couples.
This report uses multiple data sources to provide parenting rates and sociodemographic characteristics of LGBTQ parents in the United States. The current report focuses specifically on LGBTQ people who are parents of children under the age of 18 living in their homes.
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. About 30% of LGBQ parents are not legally recognized or are unsure about their legal status as the parent/guardian of at least one child.
LGBTQ parents are more likely to be living 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. While marriage tends to be associated with lower poverty rates for most groups, this was not the case for Black and Latinx LGBTQ parents who are partnered or in same-sex couples.
“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,” said lead author Bianca D.M. Wilson, former Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute and 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.”
Additional Findings
Demographics
- Among LGBTQ adults, 26% of cisgender women and 20% of transgender men report being parents of children in their household, compared with 12% of transgender women and 8% of cisgender men.
- LGBTQ people are less likely to be parenting children in their household than non-LGBTQ people (18% vs. 28%).
- A higher percentage of Black LGBTQ adults are parents (23%) than white LGBTQ adults (17%).
Marriage and Relationship Status
- About half (49%) of LGBTQ parents are married (to a same-sex or different-sex partner), compared with 20% of LGBTQ non-parents and 71% of straight cisgender parents.
- Among white adults, almost 60% of LGBTQ parents are married, which is a higher proportion than white LGBTQ non-parents (22%) and less than white straight cisgender parents (78%).
- Among people of color (POC), approximately 37% of LGBTQ parents are married, which is a higher proportion than POC LGBTQ non-parents (17%) and less than POC straight cisgender parents (62%).
Family Formation
- 47% of partnered LGBTQ parents are in a same-gender or transgender-inclusive partnership.
- 22% of LGBQ adults thought it was very or extremely likely that they would have children in the future. LBQ cisgender women were three times more likely to feel this than GBQ cisgender men.
“Queer family and community structures are similar to straight cisgender families in many ways, but there are some significant differences,” said 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.”
Read the report [LINK TK]