Policy Currents | The newsletter for policy people
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** May 14, 2024
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The Impact of Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage
Significant benefits to same-sex couples, no harm to different-sex marriage.
That's the takeaway from a new report by researchers at RAND and UCLA. Their study reviews two decades of evidence since Massachusetts first issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004.
Let's start with the benefits to LGBT people and their children [[link removed]]. The "marriage benefit" that has been well documented in different-sex couples applies to same-sex couples, too. This includes lower psychological distress as compared with same-sex couples with other forms of legal status or no legal status. The physical health of LGBT people in states that approved same-sex marriage also improved. And when states legalized same-sex marriage, same-sex households experienced more-stable relationships, higher earnings, and higher rates of home ownership. Evidence also suggests health and academic benefits for the children of same-sex couples.
Meanwhile, the fears expressed by opponents of same-sex marriage "simply have not come to pass," as coauthor Benjamin Karney says. There have been no negative effects on marriage, divorce, or cohabitation among different-sex couples. [[link removed]]
In fact, the few significant effects observed by new analyses of the issue suggest a slight increase in overall marriage rates and provide some evidence of improved attitudes toward marriage among young people in states after same-sex couples were granted legal status. "We find no evidence for a retreat from marriage," says RAND's Melanie Zaber, also a coauthor.
In short, the researchers find that, for LGBT individuals and same-sex couples, their children, and the general U.S. population, the benefits of access to legal same-sex marriage are "unambiguously positive."
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More on This Research
A Wall Street Journal report on this research summarizes our findings, recaps how various marriage laws evolved over the past 20 years, and shares stories from several families whose lives were transformed by these changes.
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What Went Wrong in Yemen: Q&A with Alexandra Stark
A year ago, RAND's Alexandra Stark thought that peace might finally be within reach for Yemen--the country she studies that's been mired in civil war for nearly a decade. But then Hamas launched its surprise attack on October 7, Israel's war in Gaza began, and hopes for peace in Yemen slipped away again. In a new Q&A, Stark discusses how the situation in Yemen continues to evolve; what she wishes more people knew about the crisis; and her new book, which focuses on how U.S. policy could be more effective in helping stabilize the region.
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Promoting Stability in Outer Space
The United States and its chief rivals China and Russia are investing in new space capabilities. This could potentially raise the risk of unintended military escalation in outer space. A new RAND report explores how the U.S. Space Force and other stakeholders can better deter and manage this risk. The authors consider six pieces of conventional wisdom related to space security--for example, the notion that countries are currently incentivized to attack first in space--and offer recommendations for U.S. space policy, planning, and further research.
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** RAND Recommends
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- RAND's Hunter Stoll explains how Russia appears to be ramping up disinformation aimed at the United States as election season gets into full swing.
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- Homeland security policy expert Michelle Woods has been named vice president and director of the RAND Homeland Security Research Division.
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- RAND researchers recently expanded their examination of Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) reform, adding three new volumes to this series.
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** The Rise of AI: Insights from RAND Experts
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AI tools are evolving quickly, and decisionmakers are grappling with how to maximize the potential benefits and minimize the risks. Insights from RAND can help. Our researchers have been studying how AI will affect national security, the economy, health care, and much more.
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