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The average professional artist living in the Republic of Ireland earns just €14,500 a year from his or her art, despite having a higher level of formal education than the wider labour force, new research shows. In the most comprehensive study for a generation, 1 in 7 respondants to the survey identified themselves as an artists with a disability.

The data, published today by the Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, reveals how many artists are now working on the island, and the challenges they face as they pursue their chosen professions. In the most comprehensive study for a generation, the two arts councils have shed critical new light on what it means to be an artist, writer, painter, musician or performer in modern day Ireland, north and south. The Living and Working Conditions of Artists in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland shows that artists are an exceptionally highly educated group, with over two-thirds having attained a university degree. They are also hard working, putting in more than 55 hours per week and frequently holding down extra jobs to support their creative endeavours.

In stark contrast to their academic achievements and evident commitment, however, the overwhelming majority of artists still earn just two-thirds of the average income for all others workers. Lack of provision for pensions also spells financial hardship ahead for the current generation of artists. The findings of the report will influence how the arts councils continue to provide support and the measures they take to improve conditions for artists on the island.

Artists with Disabilities:

The study asked artists if they had a long-term illness, health problem (including problems due to old age) or disability that limited their daily activities or the work they can do. The proportion of artists saying that they have a limiting long-term illness which has a direct impact on their daily working activities is 13% in ROI and 14% in NI. This represents between one in seven and one in eight artists. The likelihood of having such a limiting condition is strongly linked to the artist’s age. In ROI, 7% of artists aged 44 or under answered the question affirmatively compared to 20% aged 45 or over and, in NI, equivalent figures were 10% and 20%.

It is hard to compare this figure directly to the wider ROI population – the 2006 Census shows that 4% of the ROI labour force answered affirmatively to a narrower question on whether they had a disability. The NI figure compares to 7% (of those economically active) in the 2001 census having a limiting term illness. This suggests that artists are more likely than the wider labour force to have a condition that limits their daily activities or work. This is partly due to their older age profile.

Those artists who said that they had a limiting condition were asked to what extent
this adversely affected their work as artists; 73% said 'sometimes', 15% said 'Most of the time' 3% said 'All of the time' and 15% said 'Not at All' in response to the question.

You can read the full report in PDF format by clicking here