Finance and Economics Discussion Series (FEDS)
June 2024
Sexual Orientation and Financial Well-Being in the United States
Christopher S. Carpenter, Kabir Dasgupta, Zofsha Merchant, and Alexander Plum
Abstract:
We study the relationship between financial well-being and sexual orientation in the United States using Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) data for 2019-2022. We document that people who are lesbian, gay, and bisexual (or LGB) have significantly more difficulty managing financially than similarly situated heterosexual individuals—and this pre-dated the COVID-19 pandemic. Differences are found across a broad array of current and future financial well-being outcomes, including retirement savings, rainy-day funds, credit card and schooling debts, and the use of alternative financial services such as payday loans. Differences in partnership, financial assistance from parents, financial knowledge, and risk preferences cannot explain these differences. Instead, we document that some social vulnerabilities such as exposure to discriminatory behavior and violence are differentially experienced by LGB people, which may play a role. Our results demonstrate that people who are lesbian, gay, and bisexual experience significantly more financial insecurity than previously understood.
Keywords: sexual orientation, financial well-being, debt, financial knowledge
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2024.048
PDF: Full Paper
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