Are Unmarried People Discriminated Against?

Certain subsidies and tax breaks for married couples and families were enacted to encourage marriage and keep children from falling into poverty. But is this fair to people who aren't married? Fewer U.S. households are headed by married couples every year. And all those single people aren't happy about paying more and getting less.
Activists say that unmarried people are systematically discriminated against. They pay more for health and car insurance than married people do. They don’t get the same kind of tax breaks. Co-op boards, mortgage brokers, and landlords often pass them over. So do the employers with the power to promote them. “Single-ism—stereotyping, stigmatizing, and discrimination against people who are single—is largely unrecognized and unchallenged,” says activist Bella DePaulo, the author of Singled Out.

There are justifications for every one of these, but that doesn't mean much to individuals who don't like being lumped into a group. But the differences swing both ways, depending on a person's circumstances. I personally know people who choose to cohabit instead of marrying because of economic reasons. Low income people can lose Medicaid and other benefits if they marry, and elderly widows can lose pensions by remarrying. And we've all heard stories of married women being passed over for promotions because they might get pregnant. So is there really any way to achieve equity between those who are married and those who aren't? Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Alan Cleaver)

Yes they are. Sometimes this is unfair in that married individuals and individuals with families will be treated preferentially in events like layoffs. Nobody wants to put an entire household on the street. But a single kid who could just move in with his parents? Ok. Likewise married people are given preference in promotions for similarly qualified candidates.

But generally? It is not unfair. Marriage provides substantial benefits to the couple be combining important expenses like housing and food. In return married couples generally require public assistance much less than singles do especially when families and children are taken into account.
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i was once fired thusly:

"well, it was between you and XXXXX and XXXXX has a family who they help support so.... im letting you go"

i could have argued, but it was a shitty job and XXXXX was/is my friend so i walked away. still thought it was a clear form of discrimination, just not one worth arguing about.
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Marcus:

"Get over it. Jeez, people, discrimination is everywhere, except that nobody discrimiates against people who really are good at what they do."

You are kidding, right? Your comment is historically ignorant on an inexplicable scale and shows absolutely no empathy for those who have and still do experience hardship due to discrimination.

"Do your work and shut up."

Yeah, pity you can't go back in time to explain to the likes of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and a host of other social reformers how badly they are wasting their time by trying to make things fair for everyone.
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Get over it. Jeez, people, discrimination is everywhere, except that nobody discrimiates against people who really are good at what they do. It is easy to say you did not get a promotion because of discrimination, and that makes you feel better about being a loser, but if you really were as good as you think you are (false self esteem levels are so cliche these days) then you would have gotten the job, promotion, etc. Few, if any, successful businesses got that way through excluding huge sections of the workforce. Why limit your applicant pool to only 50% or even less solely due to things that do not affect job perfomrnance? And if the compnay you are working for does prctice that sort of discrimination, they will not, over the long haul, be successful. Find some where else to work, a place that will be successful, and go kick the heck out of the company that discrminates. This is not rocket science. Want to get married? Great. You don't want to get married? So what? Do your work and shut up about it.
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thank you, SpifLocated- with overpopulation of the planet, in general, there should be a tax incentive not to have kids, but then only all the sheep people would keep breeding and we'd become a society not unlike
'idiocracy'... quite the catch 22... does it not seem like only stupid people are breeding?
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My boyfriend of almost four years and I live together. We want to get married, but I need to finish school first. At the moment I receive free tuition because my father is employed by my school. If I got married I would end up having to shell out $40,000 a year. Plus the price of a wedding is just insane. Usually we don't face much discrimination, although we were passed over for an apartment, I suspect because of our unmarried status (the property manager was very conservative and religious). We're as committed as any married couple, but marriage just isn't an option at the moment. Some would say we shouldn't live together, but I don't much fancy the idea of living with some random girl I meet through a newspaper ad. Has anyone else ever seen Single White Female?
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To Dallas, I'm a female that can't have kids and has never met Mr. Right. Actually, I met Ms. Right, and yet I won't be able to marry her until it becomes legal. Sorry I can't commit to your standards, but there are plenty of reasons why people don't marry.
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to Dallas (first person one the comment page); first off... i'm a woman that never wants to get married (never wanted to marry ever). To some people marriage is fine and people will say "it's a piece of paper" and that's all it is. I have to say, I'm not scared to commit, but don't be judging all single people of being "scared" to commit. It's just a piece of paper yet that single piece of recycled paper can say so little to the world. I've been with my boyfriend for 7 years and still going strong... much longer then most marriages. But it does seem that being "single" is a bit discrimination because there are a lot of people that choose not to marry for more then one reason or another. Why should people be forced to marry just to get "rights"? Makes no sense whatsoever.
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Family law is just about the most sexist, bigoted body of jurisprudence there is. More men are unwilling to give a woman a lifetime option on their assets and future earnings and risk the loss of their children.

Marriage is dying in this country because it has increasingly become a wealth-transfer transaction to extract capital from men and transfer it to women and their affiliates. Good riddance!
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Chuck, the world is highly overpopulated. People who choose not to have children are doing a great service to the rest of humanity. Lets not pretend that people who have children are saving the planet.
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There really should be no incentives for getting married, unless they're built into your religious beliefs. My husband and I love each other deeply, but would have remained "single" and devoted to each other if it was not for our mutual belief that in our personal religious community and in the current secular society that our marriage would make things easier for us. I don't feel like the government should need to keep record of and promote marriage.

Having the child itself should be the reason you get tax breaks, not marriage.
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Wow, the air of entitlement is stifling in the comments section today.

The only thing wrong with the child-rearing comment is that there are a lot of single parents raising the future workers, inventors, teachers, etc...

Should we take away the preferential tax treatment if you end up raising a future Hitler? lol
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Those who are married, with children, are raising the future workers, inventors, teachers, etc. of our society. The work of proper child-rearing is of long-term value to the community and nation. Preferential tax treatment to recognize that contribution is justified.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_penalty

Also, the tax bracket ceilings for married couples are lower than 2x the individual rates.

Thus, two individuals making $85,649 in a year would each pay 25% on their income, whereas the married combination, $171,298, is higher than the ceiling of $142,700 and thus falls into the 28% tax bracket.

Marriage generally comes with a greater or equal tax burden. In very few scenarios does it work out to have a lesser burden.
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why are people scared to commit? if you love someone, get married, and quit complaining. if you don't, go out and find somebody.
it's not discrimination if they don't receive the benefit. that's why it's called a benefit for marriage.
I'm guessing the complaining is coming from those who don't want to get married because they plan on eventually dumping the girlfriend they've had for years, hoping to find someone better.
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