Mapping the Shape of LGBT Life Satisfaction: Variation by Age

Research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations has documented several important disadvantages across multiple discrete domains. In this paper, we shift attention to a more global measure of subjective well-being: overall life satisfaction. Analyzing three large, population-representative data sources in the United States—the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System—(BRFSS) we find that LGBT Americans report lower life satisfaction than their non-LGBT counterparts. Notably, this overall disadvantage masks a striking pattern by age. Across datasets and sexual and gender minority subgroups, we find that LGBT life satisfaction disadvantages are most pronounced among younger adults; they are much smaller or non-existent among those in and beyond midlife. Our primary analyses, focused on over 900,000 adults responding to the DTP, show that age patterns in life satisfaction further diverge sharply by LGBT identification. Whereas non-LGBT adults follow a well-known “U shape,” LGBT adults’ satisfaction rises from young adulthood onward, forming not a U, but a steady, upward climb.