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Don’t ask don’t tell (that you’re poor). Sexual orientation and social exclusion in Italy

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  • Botti, Fabrizio
  • D’Ippoliti, Carlo

Abstract

The role and extent of sexual orientation discrimination is the focus of a growing body of literature in economics and in other social sciences, across a wide range of social domains. This work aims at providing a holistic approach to the assessment of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people's life experience by developing a synthetic index of social inclusion. This is obtained by aggregating several variables pertaining to the following domains: monetary poverty, labour market attachment, housing conditions, subjective well-being, and education. We focus on the case of Italy due to the availability of a peculiar dataset that allows us to distinguish LGB people who are open about their sexuality and those who choose not to declare it. The empirical analysis highlights a lower level of inclusion of individuals in same-sex couples that cannot be explained by other observable characteristics. Thus, it may denote a lack of equal opportunities and a need for adequate inclusion policies. Being publicly open about one's sexuality is found as a crucial correlate of the welfare of LGB people, to an extent so far neglected by the literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Botti, Fabrizio & D’Ippoliti, Carlo, 2014. "Don’t ask don’t tell (that you’re poor). Sexual orientation and social exclusion in Italy," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 8-25.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:49:y:2014:i:c:p:8-25
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2014.02.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Dilmaghani, Maryam & Dean, Jason, 2020. "Sexual orientation and homeownership in Canada," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    2. Botti, Fabrizio & Conte, Anna & D'Ippoliti, Carlo, 2015. "Not so classy after all: Identity utility and the risk of discrimination of LGB people," MPRA Paper 65125, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Feler Bose & Jeffry A. Jacob, 2018. "Changing Sexual Regulations in the U.S. from 1990 to 2010: Spatial Panel Data Analysis," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 9(1).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sexual orientation; Social inclusion; Multidimensional poverty; Fuzzy analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • B54 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Feminist Economics

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