We have heard of several instances where people are discriminated based on gender. Gay men and women have been harassed by the society just because they are different, often forcing them to take to the streets to fight for their rights. However, it's a different story all together when it comes to earning as they reportedly make more money than straight people.
According to a study by researchers Christopher S Carpenter and Samuel T Eppink from Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, full-time employed gay men in the United States have caught up with their female counterparts in terms of earning more than straight people who do the same job.
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The economists have claimed in their research paper titled "Does It Get Better? Recent Estimates of Sexual Orientation and Earnings in the United States" published by Southern Economic Journal (on Onlinelibrary) that they have found self-identified lesbians earning significantly more than comparable heterosexual women in the 2013–2015 National Health Interview Survey data.
The data has also revealed that "self-identified gay men also earn significantly more than comparable heterosexual men, a difference on the order of 10 percent of annual earnings."
According the data, gay men earn $59,600 annually whereas straight men earn $57,000 and bisexual men make $49,800. On the other hand, gay women make $47,000 in a year compared to $39,900 by straight women and $38,800 by bisexual women.
The finding is in contrary to earlier trend where gay men earn less than straight men, which many call as "gay penalty."
"We discuss several possible explanations for the new finding of a gay male earnings premium and suggest that reduced discrimination and changing patterns of household specialization are unlikely to be the primary mechanisms," the study noted.
The study said that last few decades saw improvement in attitude of the people toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities in the United States and that is apparent in the way people favoured same-sex marriage.
