Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/229709 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper No. TI 2021-003/V
Publisher: 
Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam and Rotterdam
Abstract: 
Sexual minorities have had worse than average mental health, which may have to do with actual or perceived discrimination. Same-sex marriage legalization (SSML) is a typical anti-discrimination policy removing marital restrictions for sexual minorities. We study how this legislation affected mental health of sexual minorities in the Netherlands. Conducting a difference-in-differences analysis, we compare changes in mental health following the legalization between sexual minorities and heterosexuals. We find that SSML improved mental health of both married and non-married sexual minorities, which implies that marriage is not the only channel. Examinations of alternative mechanisms combined with literature suggest that the legislation may also take effect by improving societal tolerance as well as stabilizing partnerships and enriching the choice basket of partnership forms for sexual minorities.
Subjects: 
Same-sex marriage
Mental health
Sexual minorities
JEL: 
I12
I18
J12
J15
K36
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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