[Bella’s intro: This past semester, Craig Wynne, who has written a guest post for Unmarried Equality, taught a composition course at Hampton University with the theme of marriage and singlehood. One of his students, Lauren Frick, a journalism major, wrote an essay that was so terrific, he sent it to me for consideration as a […]
Our Goals and Values Are More Inclusive, But the Marriage Fundamentalists Have More Power
I’m still reeling from the report I discussed in my previous column, “The Case Against Marriage Fundamentalism: Embracing Family Justice for All.” I had known, in some abstract way, that the effort to celebrate marriage and delegitimize and stigmatize all other kinds of families and lifepaths was an organized one. I knew it was well-funded. […]
Powerful New Report Makes the Case Against Marriage Fundamentalism and for Unmarried Equality
For advocates of unmarried equality, “The Case Against Marriage Fundamentalism: Embracing Family Justice for All” is one of the most important reports of our time.
Discriminatory Housing Policies in the Military: Guest Post by Dale Nyhus
[Bella’s intro: When rental agents have an option to rent a property to a married couple, a cohabiting couple, or a pair of friends, they favor the married couple very disproportionately, even when the applicants are similar in every other way. That’s what my colleagues and I found in our studies of housing discrimination. When […]
“Working Families”: The Language Is a Problem and So Are the Policies
“Working Families”: The Language Is a Problem and So Are the Policies Leaders and candidates from different political parties in the U.S. differ sharply in many ways, but on one matter, they seem united. Just about all of them claim to care about “working families.” I have a problem with that. Actually, several problems.
Contributing to the Rise of Single People: A Global Increase in Rates of Divorce
The rise of single people has become a world-wide phenomenon. That is happening despite the fact that marriage remains very popular in many places. Living single takes up greater stretches of adult life as people who do marry wait longer than ever before to marry for the first time. If they marry and divorce, they […]
What Kind of a Year was 2018 for Unmarried Americans?
I’d love to be able to proclaim that in 2018, the Equality for Unmarried Americans Act was passed. Of course, there is no such legislation, and in the 2018 political climate, even lesser goals may have been unrealistic. (There was some progress before 2017.) In other ways, though, 2018 was a good year for us. […]
Because of the ACA, Access to Health Insurance No Longer So Tightly Linked to Marital Status
For decades, advocates for unmarried Americans have been arguing that access to health insurance should not be linked to marital status. Obamacare weakened that link, and new research shows that the results have been positive. More unmarried Americans are insured than before the Affordable Care Act was implemented.
Congressional Representatives Least Likely to Support Trump’s Agenda Have Highest Proportion of Never-Married Constituents in Their Districts
One of the longstanding sources of frustration and disappointment among advocacy-oriented unmarried Americans is that political candidates rarely address us or promise to fight for us, the way they so often vow to stand up for married couples and traditional families. In their campaign materials, candidates who are married with children like to boast about […]
From Marriage as One-Stop Shopping to Creating Your Own Life, Piece by Piece
Adults in the 21st century have the opportunity to live radically liberating lives. For that, we have The Great Unraveling to thank.