Sunday, September, 15, 2002

A story published today by the Los Angeles Daily News reports that the American Association for Single People is all about securing equal rights. Members of the Glendale-based nonprofit group will arrive in Washington today to lobby Congress on Social Security reforms and other issues as part of their "Unmarried and Single Americans Week' observance.

"People have been conditioned to think that all single people want not to be single; that's just not true,' said Thomas F. Coleman, AASP's executive director. "And when people first hear about our group, they think it's a dating service.'

Coleman and his fellow activists hope to represent the interests of a broad coalition of single adults - widows and widowers, divorcees, gays and lesbians and those who have never married. Coleman said the group is concentrating on concerns affecting all unmarried adults and does not support such controversial issues as legalized marriage for same-sex couples.

Social Security, with regulations still steeped in the husband-wife household format, is a major target for the group. Coleman noted that benefits for married Social Security recipients continue for spouses upon the death of a husband or wife. But, singles' sizable investments in the program are forfeited at death. AASP advocates allowing unmarried people to designate a child, other relative or domestic partner to receive their Social Security benefits after they die.

Stan Charnofsky, a professor of educational psychology at California State University, Northridge and a member of AASP's advisory board, said he has seen no real evidence that marriage offers either partners or society more benefits than alternative household arrangements.

"We make such a big deal about marriage, but the fact is that half of all marriages today end in divorce and so to do half of all second marriages,' said Charnofsky, a divorcee with three grown children and a leading expert on the singles scene. In his latest book, "Surfing the Single Life,' he identified two major groups of singles: those seeking marriage and mates and those who are "married to their work or art and not seeking or requiring a relationship.'

Charnofsky noted that society has always had a large number of unmarried people, and that only their living arrangements have changed in recent years.

Coleman said he expects an uphill battle on Capitol Hill, where he plans to call on the offices of all 535 Senate and House members. He said special effort will be made on lobbying unmarried lawmakers, including Reps. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, and David Dreier, R-Covina.

"You always hear both parties talking about how they support working families,' said Coleman. "Who ever heard of an employer hiring a family?' He noted that single adults, who make up 40 percent of the work force, get unequal treatment on benefits, paying more proportionately for employer-subsidized health insurance than married co-workers with family coverage. They also have fewer pension options, with most plans limiting shared benefits to spouses.