by Gay Newscenter Staff
Published date: March 23, 2007 - 1:00 pm
(London) A study by a major British insurer shows that same-sex couples entering civil partnerships spend more on the festivities and receive more in gifts than their opposite-sex counterparts.
The study, by Direct Line Home Insurance involved more than 6,000 people.
From December 2005, when civil partnerships became legal, and 2006, 15,672 civil partnerships took place in the UK. Direct Line says that same-sex couples have spent more than $120 million tying the knot.
The study found that the average opposite-sex couple spends about $6,000 for their weddings while ceremonies and receptions for gay couples averaged about two-thousand dollars more.
But it is in the gift department that same-sex couples excel.
They get an average haul of about $9,000 in gifts from relatives and friends, while straight couples receive about $2,000 in gifts.
Direct Line says that its survey found the average gay couple's gift cost about $200.
Andrew Lowe, head of home insurance at Direct Line, said there is a logical reason for the differences in the amounts spent on ceremonies and receptions.
"I was surprised to see that guests at 'gay weddings' spend more on presents at first, but then I started to think about the average age of gay couples getting married compared with same sex couples," Lowe said.
"It might be that they're older because they've only been able to get 'married' in the last 12 months, and it's probably the more affluent people who have moved the more quickly."
He says the same logic carries over to gift giving.
"The type of presents that they are buying also suggests that they are older and more affluent. I think if you did a survey of mixed sex couples getting married, antiques wouldn't feature very highly as a wedding gift."
It is estimated that 28,000 same-sex couples will enter civil partnerships in the UK this year.
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