Same-sex relationship experiences and expectations regarding partnership and parenthood

Karsten Hank and Martin Wetzel
Additional contact information
Karsten Hank: Universität zu Köln
Martin Wetzel: Universität zu Köln

Demographic Research, 2018, vol. 39, issue 25, 701-718

Abstract: Background: Whereas recent years have brought comprehensive demographic accounts of the gay and lesbian population in the United States and several European countries, relatively little is yet known about gays’ and lesbians’ family-related attitudes and expectations. Objective: The present study contributes to closing this research gap, comparing individuals with and without same-sex relationship experiences regarding their expectations concerning partnership and parenthood. Methods: We run OLS regressions, using nationally representative survey data for two cohorts of young adults in Germany (born 1971–1973 and 1981–1983). Results: In several regards, gays and lesbians expect lower benefits and greater costs of being in a partnership, but not of being a parent. Conclusions: We propose that the latter finding results from same-sex parenthood still being a comparatively rare event and expectations being formed on the basis of heteronormatively shaped values rather than on experience. This is different when considering romantic relationships. Even if partnership-related expectations are partially influenced by the same structural constraints that limit gays’ and lesbians’ factual opportunity to form a family, these expectations might still exhibit an independent additional impact on demographic outcomes. Contribution: Accounting for individuals’ expectations might contribute to better explaining why, for example, marriage-like partnerships and cohabitation are less frequent in gay and lesbian couples than in heterosexual partnerships.

Keywords: partnership; parenthood; same-sex couples; Germany; German Family Panel pairfam (Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol39/25/39-25.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:39:y:2018:i:25

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2018.39.25

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Demographic Research from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Editorial Office ().