Gay and Lesbian Families and Tourism - Family Tourism - page 131

the four years 2005-2009, just over 40,000 partnerships (mostly male) had
been formed (Office for National Statistics, 2010b).
The number of same-sex couples was also identified in the USA national
census of 2000; they accounted for 594,000 households (less than 1% of all
households), of which the majority were male (Sears et al. , 2005). Notwith-
standing the hazards of interpreting these couples as having gay or lesbian
sexual identity, the US census gives further detail of the characteristics and
'family' composition of the households. They were more likely to be in
employment than married couples and more likely to have both persons
employed. They also had higher educational qualifications and were more
likely to live in urban areas.
The UK Labour Force Survey also provided data about same-sex couples.
It was estimated they were about 0.2% of the working population and were
typically younger and had achieved higher levels of education than other
couples (Arabsheibani et al. , 2006). In an earlier paper, they were identified
as being likely to live in cities and to be in professional, managerial and
intermediate occupations (Arabsheibani et al. , 2004). These characteristics
suggest further caution about the representative nature of the data.
Difficulties in determining numbers of gay and lesbian people and families
are reflected in estimates of the number of children in these families. Numbers
of children are derived from the same sources, with all their inherent short-
comings. Nearly 40% of the US same-sex couples (aged 22-55) were raising
children - mostly in female households; they were 'less affluent, [and] more
racially and ethnically diverse' than different-sex couples with children (Sears
et al. , 2005: 2). It was estimated that 270,313 children lived in same-sex couple
households in the USA in 2005 and nearly twice as many again had a single
gay or lesbian parent (Gartrell & Bos, 2010). In the UK there was at least
one dependent child in the household of 8.6% of gay/lesbian respondents
and 30% of bisexual respondents - without indication of whether single or
couples (Office for National Statistics, 2010a). Whether these children were
biologically related to respondents is not known but adoption by same-sex
couples has been possible in the UK since 2005 (and by single gay or lesbian
people before that). Over the period 2007-2008, 170 children were adopted in
Britain by same-sex couples (Baron, 2010). It was estimated that even before
legalisation, 5% of adopted children were living with a gay or lesbian couple
( London Evening Standard , 2007). It is estimated, too, that 4% of all adopted
children in the USA are raised by gay or lesbian parents (Craft, 2010).
There is considerable uncertainty about the number of gay and lesbian
people and added uncertainty about the nature and structure of their
relationships. Further problems arise in determining numbers of children
parented by gay or lesbian people and the nature of their family structure.
It would appear, however, that both the number in formally recognised
relationships and the number who are parenting are relatively low. Parents
may well typically be single and female.