Policy brief: are same-sex cohabitors less healthy than people in other union statuses?

Union status, such as cohabitation or marriage, is clearly related to health. But this basic research finding is based primarily on heterosexual unions. In this study, the authors ask how living in a same-sex cohabiting union is associated with health. To answer this question, the authors compared the health of same-sex cohabitors with the health of people who are in different-sex married, different-sex cohabiting, divorced, widowed, and never-married single union statuses. The authors further examined the role of gender, race-ethnicity, and socioeconomic factors—such as income, education level, and health insurance—in shaping health differences across union statuses.