USA Today reports on the shifting societal view of what constitutes a family:
How “family” is defined is a crucial question on many levels. Beyond the debate over same-sex marriage, it affects income tax filings, adoption and foster care practices, employee benefits, inheritance rights and countless other matters.
Between 2003 and 2010, three surveys conducted by Indiana University sociologist Brian Powell showed a significant shift toward counting same-sex couples with children as family — from 54% of respondents in 2003 to 68% in 2010. In all, more than 2,300 people were surveyed.
Powell linked the changing attitudes to a 10% rise between 2003 and 2010 in the share of survey respondents who reported having a gay friend or relative.
Only about one-third of those surveyed said they considered same-sex couples without children to be a family. And in 2006, when asked if gay couples and pets count as family, 30% said pets count but not gay couples.
In the 2010 survey, 83% of the respondents said they perceived unmarried heterosexual couples with children as a family; only 40% extended that recognition to unmarried straight couples without children.
In line with several recent national opinion polls, Powell’s 2010 survey showed a near-even split on same-sex marriage — with 52% supporting it and 48% opposed.
Read the full store here.
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