The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Working in the Art Sector

Alongside a quantitative analysis of pay, accross many dimensions of earning- in different organisations, by different demographics and in self-employed, part-time and full-time work- is a staggering 80 pages of qualitative data, made up of over 650 individual comments. It may or my not surprise readers to learn that of these, only 10 were vaguely positive about pay levels within the sector. 

The author, Liz Hill, surmises that the report is a call to action for funder's to take more responsibility - 

"But most important of all, funders should read it – right through to end – so that they can hear for themselves the reality behind the glossy funding applications that promise the world in the hope of a few crumbs from their table. It’s clear from this report that funders who point to policies describing good pay practices for the sector and expect cash-strapped cultural organisations to readily adopt union-advised rates are deluding themselves. Funders are the pipers who call the tune in the cultural sector and theirs is the responsibility to take the lead. They now have concrete evidence of what’s actually going on, so there’s no place to hide for those that fail to address the issues raised. If they do fail to take action, then it is equally clear what the consequences will be: a less diverse sector that fails to recruit the best talent and loses its most effective and experienced workers to industries that recognise their skills and reward them with, as a minimum, a sustainable lifestyle."

We've collated an inforgraphic of some of the findings below, to read the full report, see here. 

Image caption or copyright 

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