Economic crisis: the gay response

While most households cut spending and shift their priorities in times of economic downturn, a recent American survey conducted online by Harris Interactive shows marked differences in responses based on gender and sexual orientation.

Lesbian adults often feel more vulnerable than other populations, while gay men appear less likely to cut back discretionary spending than their heterosexual counterparts.

A majority (55 percent) of all US adults indicate that they will be impacted by the economic downturn.

Among some sub-groups, the economic downturn is perceived to have more influence. For example, when asked to think about their own personal circumstances today, 75 percent of adult lesbians said they feel the impact of the severe economic downturn will affect individuals and households like theirs more than others.

In contrast, this opinion was held by 60 percent of heterosexual women and 55 percent of gay men.

When asked about spending for entertainment generally, over four out of 10 lesbians (44 percent) said they likely will reduce their spending, in contrast to fewer than a quarter (24 percent) of gay men.

Similarly, when asked about plans to take a vacation from home lasting more than a week, a clear majority (56 percent) of heterosexual adults said they were not at all likely to do so within the next six months, compared to 42 percent of gay and lesbian adults who agreed.

Looking only at gay men, 39 percent said they were not at all likely to take a vacation compared to more than half (52 percent) of heterosexual men.

The nationwide survey of 2449 U.S. adults, of whom 232 identified as gay or lesbian, was conducted online between October 20 and 27 2008.

Robert Nicholds is the chief financial planner of Melbourne-based Paprika Group Financial Services, a company providing advice about wealth creation and protection. He’s unsurprised by the US survey findings, and feels that a survey in Australia would yield similar results.

Everyone’s a little bit scared of what’s happening, Nicholds told Sydney Star Observer.

Whether it’s different from other downturns remains to be seen at this stage.

Nicholds agrees -” in part -” that the gay and lesbian community has less to lose in times of economic instability.

To a certain extent that’s true -” in a lot of cases we’ve not got families to support. But people still have their liabilities to meet, and I don’t think we’re that much different from the general community. We might use our money for a different purpose, but we still have liabilities.”

Asked why lesbians might feel more vulnerable than gay men regarding finances, Nicholds offered a matter-of-fact explanation.

I suspect it’s because gay men tend to look at wealth creation more -” creating something in their lives financially -” whereas women might tend to be in more motherhood-type situations: they or their partners might have access to children. It’s less likely that gay men would be in that position.