New research into the working lives of artists shows how, through lower take-home pay and volunteer hours for their community, Australia’s artists are subsidising our arts industry.
- Distinguished Professor of Economics, Macquarie University
Women artists from a non-English-speaking background suffer a triple earnings penalty. But there is no gender pay gap among remote Indigenous artists.
A new survey of Australian authors finds that while author incomes have (very slightly) grown, they remain perilously low – which makes it hard to find time to write.
The contribution of the book industry to the national economy is substantial, but its importance goes beyond its monetary value.
Why is the gender pay gap wider in the arts than other fields of employment? We mined the data looking for possible reasons.
The average Australian female artist is better educated than her male counterpart but earns significantly less than him, new research shows. And artists’ incomes are declining in real terms.
If the government decides to remove regional trade protections on the book industry, it should compensate Australian authors. But given how unlikely new funding would be, the best option – for everyone – is to leave well enough alone.
In 1983, a groundbreaking inquiry into the economic circumstances of artists released a report containing a string of recommendations. Thirty three years on, the inquiry’s chair asks, what has changed?
A study into the responses of Australian authors, publishers and readers to global changes in the contemporary publishing environment suggests authors are being innovative, but financial rewards can be elusive.
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