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The ArtsPay 2018 survey has provided the opportunity for the realities of earnings in the arts & cultural sector to be better understood. This final report and associated analysis, together with commentary by the ArtsProfessional team and others, all contribute to a much clearer picture of the state of pay in 2018.

ArtsPay 2018: A summary of pay and earnings in the arts and cultural sector

The ArtsPay 2018 survey was designed to give employees, freelance workers and business owner-managers in the arts and cultural sector the chance to contribute to a major research exercise through which the realities of pay and earnings in the arts and cultural sector can be better understood.

Nearly 2,700 people responded, and the final report and related editorial content paint a detailed picture. They also provide a benchmark against which future trends can be identified and measured.

ArtsPay2018: read the summary report here

ArtsProfessional has also written and commissioned analysis and commentary to accompany the report. Follow the links below to read the related content.

AP News

EXCLUSIVE: Gender gap dominates latest arts pay figures
Lack of career progression among women in the cultural sector is the overwhelming contributor to the significant gender pay gap revealed in initial findings from the 2018 ArtsPay survey.

Class influences career entry but not career progression, research finds
Over 70% of respondents now working in music, the visual arts or museums/heritage come from households where the main income earner worked in a professional or senior managerial occupation.

Pay crisis builds as arts workers struggle to make ends meet
Across the UK, but especially in London, arts workers are considering their futures in the sector as salaries have fallen out of step with the cost of living.

£8,000 pay penalty for part-time senior women, research finds
Women are being penalised for part-time working in the arts and cultural sector, earning full-time equivalent salaries that fall significantly short of those paid to people working full-time.

Exploitation rife as unpaid work subsidises the arts
Working practices that “wouldn't be tolerated in any other industry” have become the norm across the sector, with employees and freelances expected to work for nothing to enable their artistic output to be delivered.

Senior arts staff sidelining digital work, research finds
Digital skills are spread thin in cultural organisations, with only one in six of those in the most senior strategic roles identifying web or digital activity as forming a part of their work.

Comment

A wake-up call
LIZ HILL introduces the grim findings published in the ArtsPay 2018 report on pay in the arts and cultural sector.

Rights, wellbeing and dignity
Financial insecurity plagues the working lives of cultural workers, with the self-employed and freelancers worst affected. But solutions are to be found, so it’s time for the UK to take decisive action, says CLARA PAILLARD.

Race to the bottom
As low- or no-pay practices continue to dominate the arts and cultural sector, some enlightened employers are starting to reap the benefits of offering a fairer deal to all staff. JONATHAN KNOTT reflects on the findings of the ArtsPay2018 survey – and the efforts of those challenging the status quo.

An investment in the future
A paid internship scheme provides theatre company Third Angel with essential administrative support – and develops talent that will benefit the wider sector, the company writes.

Freedom to struggle
Who’d be a freelancer in the arts in 2019? CHRISTY ROMER sheds light on the human cost of being self-employed in the cultural sector.

Entertainment without exploitation
CHARLOTTE BENCE looks back on how the trade union Equity has fought low paid and unpaid work in the entertainment industries since 2014 – and its plans to extend its campaign in the future.

Download AP Pulse: ArtsPay 2018 full report (.pdf)