Report Says Gay Marriage Could Boost PA Economy By $58 Million in First Year

The Washington Post has published a report that claims gay marriage could generate up to $58 million for the Pennsylvania economy in its first year.

The report was put together by the Williams Institute. To come up with the results it takes a look at the number of same-sex couples reported on the 2010 census. Then it takes into account the “Massachusetts experience,” which said that about half of the state’s same-sex couples married within the first three years of marriage equality. Then it factors in market research from The Wedding Report to estimate how much people are spending on weddings these days.

To account for the very real fact that most same-sex couples may not get the same amount of support from their families, the Institute “lowers its estimate to about a forth of the Wedding Report number.” So the estimates are actually low-balled a bit. Here are the results for Pennsylvania:

• 7,490 to 11,168 couples are expected to marry in the first three years
• The three-year economic benefit could range from $65 million to $92.1 million
• The three-year revenue benefit could amount to anything from $4.2 million to $5.8 million
• The economic benefit in the first year of marriage equality could be $42 million to $58.9 million

That’s a whole lotta millions, and a whole lotta reasons marriage equality makes perfect cents, I mean sense.

To read the rest of The Washington Post’s report, which details the economic benefit of marriage equality in 11 states, go here.