Archives for 2018

For decades, advocates for unmarried Americans have been arguing that access to health insurance should not be linked to marital status. Obamacare weakened that link, and new research shows that the results have been positive. More unmarried Americans are insured than before the Affordable Care Act was implemented.

One of the longstanding sources of frustration and disappointment among advocacy-oriented unmarried Americans is that political candidates rarely address us or promise to fight for us, the way they so often vow to stand up for married couples and traditional families. In their campaign materials, candidates who are married with children like to boast about […]

Adults in the 21st century have the opportunity to live radically liberating lives. For that, we have The Great Unraveling to thank.

Ah, marriage equality. Historian, pioneer of LGBTQ studies, and social-justice advocate Martin Duberman knows that a majority of LGBTQ people – or a majority of those who make their opinions known – cared about that issue. They wanted it on the agenda.

[Bella’s intro: In this guest post, Craig Wynne argues that even in these dire times, there are things we can do to create a more fair society for people who are not married. I hope he is right that change will happen, and maybe even sooner than he predicts.]

Want a formula for staying out of poverty? Conservatives such as Brad Wilcox and George Will have a favorite, with a catchy title and simple, 3-step process. It is their “success sequence.” Young adults, they believe, should be urged to pursue these three steps, in this order:

In matters of fairness for people who are not married, there are big things and small things and everything in between. If you care about social justice, the big stuff will be high on your list. But how should you approach the small stuff?

The night before the California primaries earlier this month, I received a robocall urging me to support one of the candidates because she is a “fighter for children and families.” I emailed the candidate, telling her that I am a 64-year-old lifelong single woman with no kids, and it sounded like she did not even […]

Before same-sex marriage was legalized in the UK, same-sex couples gained legal recognition for their relationships under the Civil Partnership Act. Now that these couples can be legally married, they can still opt for a civil partnership instead. But here’s the rub: Different-sex couples can’t. All they can do is either marry or carry on […]