The Gay Marriage Stimulus Package

Illustration by: Christoph Hitz

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Gay marriage is usually cast as an issue of human rights (for supporters) or immorality 
(for opponents), but what about fiscal responsibility? Herewith, some of the annual 
economic benefits of legalizing gay marriage:

. 


Same-sex couples marry and move into a higher tax bracket, boosting federal taxes by:
$400 to $700 million





Newly formed gay households move up in income and are cut from programs such as Medicaid, resulting in savings of:

$50 to $200 million

Uninsured gays and lesbians, whose health care costs are now paid by the government, join their spouses’ insurance plans. If a third do so, federal costs drop by:
$190 million





If half the same-sex couples now living together get married (the rate seen in Vermont and Massachusetts) and spend a quarter of what straight couples do, it results in a wedding-industry boon of:
$2 billion





TOTAL: Up to $3.1 billion

Sources: Congressional Budget Office, Williams Institute

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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