3.6 Societal and Personal Influences on Union Formations
3.6 Societal and Personal Influences on Union Formations
Elizabeth B. Pearce
As discussed in Chapter 1, these authors believe that each person is in control of their own social and family identities. Social institutions, however, also define “family” via rights, responsibilities, benefits, and taxes. While the federal government leaps to mind as the arbiter of family definitions for taxation and benefits purposes, state and local governments are the primary legislators of family law and mediators of familial relationships. This was an intentional decision made during the formation of the United States of America: that states and local municipalities be the governors of matters related to the family. It is only when there is enough disruption among the states that matters of the family rise to the national decision-making level. An example is that many different laws related to same-sex marriage created inequities for families within states and disruption for families who moved from state to state. The 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that the right to marry is fundamental and must be available to all couples created consistency in marriage law (Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015).
In addition to government entities, institutions such as employers, schools, and insurance companies all have the authority to define family within certain parameters and to limit benefits such as sick leave, insurance coverage, and pension benefits to said family members. We know that these institutions impact the resources and benefits that families receive based on their structure and legal ties to one another. How do these varied definitions, policies, and practices affect partner and family formation and dissolutions? Whom we connect with, love, parent, marry, and divorce affects our access to resources in ways that are inequitable.
The complexity of factors in choosing a partner(s) or in forming a family makes it challenging to study family formation. Researchers and students must be willing to hold multiple ideas in mind as they analyze this topic. As you read this textbook, we will explore how institutional policies and practices may play a role in those decisions. Federal Student Aid and student loans, Medicaid and Medicare, Social Security and income taxes, immigration law, military housing policies, and health care insurance all rely on definitions of partner and family structures in order to assign taxes, rights, privileges, and benefits. Look for these examples in upcoming chapters about housing, health care, education, and more.
Official Definitions and Societal Stigma
Definitions and categories are used to assign rights, privileges, and benefits to individuals and families. Government policies grounded in these definitions are intertwined with status and stigma. For example, although same-sex and interracial marriages are now legal across the country, they still have levels of stigma associated with them, depending on location. Cohabitation, even among White hete