To my mind, the giving of tax breaks etc. to married folks occurs because (rightly or wrongly) politicians have wanted to encourage marriage.
I agree that in principle there is nothing wrong with 3 single moms or 5 college students forming some sort of domestic partnership contract, but why give them the tax breaks? Do college kids living with each other instead of separately create some sort of social benefit that “we” the people might want to encourage? Why not just treat this like any other contract?
Apart from this, I think the social aspect of marriage is being neglected. Marriage for most people is not primarily about joint tax filing, but rather about publicly making a commitment to each other, and to their community, to follow certain norms in their relationship (e.g., monogamy; the specific norms vary by community). This is necessary because the community “thinks” pair bonding and childrearing are important/sacred/weighty things. In other words, “married” is a sort of honorific.
Needless to say, society does not think 5 college students sharing a house is an important/sacred/weighty thing that needs to be honoured.
This thick layer of social expectations is totally absent for the kind of arm’s-length domestic partnership contract you propose, which makes me wonder why anybody would either want to call it marriage or frame it as being an alternative to marriage.
which makes me wonder why anybody would either want to call it marriage
I could make exactly the same argument about divorce-able marriage and wonder why would anyone call this get-out-whenever-you-want-to arrangement “marriage” :-D
The point is, the “thick layer of social expectations” is not immutable.
If traditional marriage is a sparrow, then marriage with no-fault divorce is a penguin, and 5 college kids sharing a house is a centipede. Type specimen, non-type specimen, wrong category.
Social expectations are mutable, yes—what of it? Do you think it’s desirable or inevitable that marriage just become a fancy historical legal term for income splitting on one’s tax return? Do you think sharing a house in college is going to be, or ought to be, hallowed and encouraged?
I could make exactly the same argument about divorce-able marriage and wonder why would anyone call this get-out-whenever-you-want-to arrangement “marriage” :-D
Agreed, no fault divorce laws were a huge mistake.
Do college kids living with each other instead of separately create some sort of social benefit that “we” the people might want to encourage?
It reduces the demand for real estate, which lowers its price. Of course this is a pecuniary externality so the benefit to tenants is exactly counterbalanced by the harm to landlords, but given that landlords are usually much wealthier than tenants...
To my mind, the giving of tax breaks etc. to married folks occurs because (rightly or wrongly) politicians have wanted to encourage marriage.
I agree that in principle there is nothing wrong with 3 single moms or 5 college students forming some sort of domestic partnership contract, but why give them the tax breaks? Do college kids living with each other instead of separately create some sort of social benefit that “we” the people might want to encourage? Why not just treat this like any other contract?
Apart from this, I think the social aspect of marriage is being neglected. Marriage for most people is not primarily about joint tax filing, but rather about publicly making a commitment to each other, and to their community, to follow certain norms in their relationship (e.g., monogamy; the specific norms vary by community). This is necessary because the community “thinks” pair bonding and childrearing are important/sacred/weighty things. In other words, “married” is a sort of honorific.
Needless to say, society does not think 5 college students sharing a house is an important/sacred/weighty thing that needs to be honoured.
This thick layer of social expectations is totally absent for the kind of arm’s-length domestic partnership contract you propose, which makes me wonder why anybody would either want to call it marriage or frame it as being an alternative to marriage.
I don’t think anyone suggested that?
Some marriages are of convenience, and the honorific sense doesn’t apply as well to people who don’t fit the romantic ideal of marriage.
I could make exactly the same argument about divorce-able marriage and wonder why would anyone call this get-out-whenever-you-want-to arrangement “marriage” :-D
The point is, the “thick layer of social expectations” is not immutable.
If traditional marriage is a sparrow, then marriage with no-fault divorce is a penguin, and 5 college kids sharing a house is a centipede. Type specimen, non-type specimen, wrong category.
Social expectations are mutable, yes—what of it? Do you think it’s desirable or inevitable that marriage just become a fancy historical legal term for income splitting on one’s tax return? Do you think sharing a house in college is going to be, or ought to be, hallowed and encouraged?
Agreed, no fault divorce laws were a huge mistake.
From which point of view?
It reduces the demand for real estate, which lowers its price. Of course this is a pecuniary externality so the benefit to tenants is exactly counterbalanced by the harm to landlords, but given that landlords are usually much wealthier than tenants...
Yes and the social benefit is already captured by the roommates in the form of paying less rent.