Dear theatre freelancers
Thank you to the 1156 of you that responded to this year’s Big Freelancer Survey.
A team of us have been working hard over the last two months, and not one of the 83,000+ words that you have written has gone unread. This is important to us: we are here to reflect and amplify your voices and concerns.
This year’s report makes for a difficult read. There is a pervading feeling that the industry has ‘built back worse’ post-pandemic. We are living through the perfect storm of a cost-of-living crisis, and the ongoing impact of Covid and Brexit; combined with pre-existing deeply embedded structural inequalities.
It is not just your voices that speak loudly in this year’s report – the numerical data also has a story to tell. For the first time, we decided to gather data on what you are earning as part of this year’s survey, revealing an overall gender pay gap of 37.4%. Reports of an industry rife with ageism and sexism are corroborated by data which reveals that the pay-gap widens to 47.7% for freelancers with 21-30 years’ experience in the industry.
The clear message from this year’s survey is that the freelance theatre workforce feels ‘undervalued, underpaid and under-appreciated’, a feeling that has been amplified by significant government funding cuts in the last year. Overall, average earnings for freelancers in the industry are 17.5% below the UK national average salary. Although many find the work fulfilling, unsustainably low pay is leading to skills shortages in many roles and work intensification for those who remain, often without adequate – or any – remuneration. There is a widespread sense that the precarious nature of freelance work across the industry has worsened since the pandemic, and that its effects are exhausting, with many describing their working lives as ‘unpredictable, unsettling and unsustainable’.
For everyone out there who dreamed of a brighter, fairer future for the theatre industry, it might be disheartening to read countless accounts of overwork and underpayment, of increasing skills shortages, savage budget cuts, and the detrimental effects these things are having on the mental health, wellbeing, and morale of our freelance community.
But we all know what a magical place our industry can be, and it is worth the work to try to fix it.
We have had long conversations about how to create a report that platforms all of the issues you have raised: from skills shortages to a lack of meaningful inclusion; from a lack of basic HR provision to concerns about exclusivity; from Brexit to the cost-of-living crisis. All of these issues deserve time and space to be discussed at length. The purpose of this report is to create space for each issue to be laid out – in your words – but this is only the start of the work that needs to be done.
At Freelancers Make Theatre Work, we will continue to advocate for the freelance theatre workforce. The data within this report will help us to paint a fuller picture of the very real and wide-ranging issues impacting the 200,000+ people that make up our community of freelance theatre-makers. Some of the urgent recommendations from our survey responses include:
1. The introduction and enforcement of fair pay, with union rates as a minimum rather than a standard. The industry urgently needs to tackle the disparity between freelance wages and salaried staff, and rates of pay need to reflect the skills, knowledge and experience that each person brings.
2. London-centrism continues to be a problem: touring rates need immediate revision to reflect the true cost of travelling to / finding accommodation around the UK, but particularly in London.
3. A thorough review of government arts funding policy needs to take place, which looks at grant administration, and the suitability of current structures / application processes for freelancers. Funding applications need to include a commitment to fair pay and working conditions.
4. Funding must be protected specifically for making the arts and entertainment more accessible, and to enable school-age children to access a variety of culture each term. Equality, inclusion and sustainability should be built into the funding and planning of every organisation.
5. Freelancers should be better represented in leadership and management roles, and on relevant boards.
6. More work needs to be done to secure a visa waiver for the creative workforce in the EU, making it possible for freelancers to take on short notice, short-term contracts again.
Once again, thank you for being part of our community and contributing to this vital work. If you want to support our work or find out how you could help, head to 'Support FMTW' on our website