The New Paid Family Leave Laws Seriously Shortchange Single Parents
The U.S. is notorious for its failure to guarantee paid family leave for all workers. At the end of 2019, though, some progress was made on behalf of people who work for the federal government. A new...
View ArticleUnmarried Voters Are Getting Ignored by Presidential Candidates, the Media,...
The first article I ever published about single people was an op-ed in the New York Times, “Sex and the Single Voter,” in 2004. I mocked the condescending ways the media, the pollsters, and both...
View ArticleCare Provider Was Given Riskier Duties Because She Was Unmarried with No...
At Unmarried Equality, we discuss many different forms of discrimination against people who are not married. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the possibilities are as serious as they can get. “You don’t...
View ArticleDiscrimination against Unmarried People: Is It Legitimated by the Deficit...
The deficit narrative of single life may be costing us our rights and our lives. Here at Unmarried Equality, we are painfully aware of singlism. Single people are stereotyped, stigmatized, and...
View ArticleBlack Americans Hit Especially Hard by Discrimination Against the Unmarried
Two facts are indisputable, and they add up to a colossal disadvantage to black Americans. First, people who are officially married are the recipients of massive unearned benefits and protections....
View ArticleSingles More Likely to Go Hungry During COVID-19, and Not Just Because They...
Even before the nationwide lockdowns, there were far too many people in the U.S. with not enough to eat. The pandemic has exacerbated that disturbing reality. More single than married people are...
View ArticleDo Unmarried Americans Have the Same Opportunities to Opt-Out during the...
Colleges and universities are on the cusp of reopening for the fall term. According to data published in the Chronicle of Higher Education a few days ago (July 29, 2020), nearly a quarter of the...
View ArticleHow South Korea Is Accommodating, Not Shaming, Singles Who Live Alone
A decade or so ago in South Korea, the most common household was comprised of four people. Now that number is one. There are more single-person households than households with couples or families or...
View ArticleVote, Unmarried Americans! And How We All Need to Watch Our Language
It’s voting season. And separately, I’ll explain what’s wrong with how we refer to single people and why that matters. It is early October, and I am not going to wait until November to encourage all my...
View ArticleValuing Friends: An Indirect Route to Singles Rights?
It is a daunting and frustrating endeavor, trying to transform the U.S. into a more just place for people who are single. As other groups, such as sexual minorities, make significant strides toward...
View ArticleNeera Tanden’s Policy Positions: Implications for Unmarried Americans
Of all the people President-Elect Joe Biden has chosen to fill top positions in his administration, one has become a special target of criticism and bickering. Neera Tanden is Biden’s pick to lead the...
View ArticleSingles in Need Who Are Not Seniors, Don’t Have Kids: One of the Most...
I fear that single people who are not seniors and who have no children are among the most underserved populations in the United States. When they are in need, they may have more trouble getting help...
View ArticleIdentifying with Other Single People: A Step in the Path Toward Justice?
Some stigmatized groups, such as gays and lesbians, make progress in pushing back against the stigma when they see themselves as part of a group. Historically, that could mean participating in a social...
View ArticleStaying Married for the Health Insurance
A study of more than 17,000 married people found that those dependent on a spouse for health insurance were less likely to divorce Here at Unmarried America, we believe that no one should have to marry...
View ArticleChampioning Life Outside of Conventional Coupling
An in-depth study of 4 European nations documents the ways in which people living a conventionally coupled life are systematically advantaged, formally and informally. The authors think that should...
View ArticleTeaching Students to Advocate for Fairness for Single People: Guest Post by...
[Bella’s intro: I am grateful to everyone who advocates for unmarried equality. Craig Wynne, who discussed his book, How to Be a Happy Bachelor, here, is one of those people. Better still, he teaches...
View ArticleWhy Do Unmarried Americans Have Fewer Legal Protections than Other Devalued...
Under the law, only some groups get protected from discrimination. An important question is, who should get protected? What factors should matter? In a 2014 Stanford Law Review article, “Compulsory...
View ArticleNew Legal Framework Needed to Ensure Economic Security for All, Law...
What if we wanted all Americans to be economically secure—what would that take? In an important article, “Uncoupling,” just published in the Spring 2021 issue of the Arizona State Law Journal,...
View ArticleThe American Rescue Plan Helps Single Adults with No Children
Something unusual and quite good happened when President Biden signed the Covid relief bill, the American Rescue Plan, into law on March 11, 2021. The needs of a group of Americans who are typically...
View ArticleEveryday Prejudices and Unfairness: The Pernicious Implications for Unmarried...
Here at Unmarried Equality, we mostly focus on the big ways that single people are targeted with discrimination, such as the institutional biases that are written into laws, policies, and practices....
View Article