Transactions of Gay- and Bisexual-Headed Households

Data from the 2012–13 MacroMonitor about lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) households are new and timely in light of the US Supreme Court's recent overturn of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. In total, LGB households represent roughly 4% of all US economic households. Of all LGB-headed households, sample sizes are sufficient for reliable analysis of only gay-headed and bisexual-headed households, the focus here.

Postrecession, when many heterosexual- ("straight"-) headed households have cut back on spending and focused on debt reduction, gay-headed households—in contrast—have continued to spend; they have a higher mean household income than that of all other households, which enables them to do so. Gay-headed households conduct a higher mean number of financial transactions per year than do other household populations—an estimated 711 transactions a year.

Some types of financial-services providers, such as credit and insurance providers, can benefit from marketing products and services to LGB-headed households. Caveat: Be cautious in your assumptions, because not all these households are the same. For example, few gay-headed households have dependents, but a high proportion of bisexual-headed households do. General offers and messages to LGB-headed households will miss the mark entirely. In addition, general offers will fuel the existing high level of distrust of most financial institutions by proving a lack of real understanding of their financial needs.