The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Visual Arts and Artists held its first meeting of 2025 on Tuesday 21 January, where the recently published Artists’ Earnings and Contracts Report was discussed in depth.
Parliamentarians in attendance were:
Polly Billington MP (Labour, East Thanet)
Ruth Cadbury MP (Labour, Brentford and Isleworth)
The Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench Peer)
Cat Eccles MP (Labour, Stourbridge)
Lord Freyberg (Crossbench Peer)
Lord Hampton (Crossbench Peer) and
Lord Inglewood (Crossbench Peer).
The group were joined by Dr. Amy Thomas, and Dr. Arthur Ehlinger, lead researchers on the project, who highlighted the key findings from the report.
Key findings show:
- The median income for visual artists is £12,500 a year, a 47% decrease since 2010
- Significant disparities in pay across demographics, with women and other genders earning 40% less than men and disabled artists earning a median of just £3,750
- Over 80% of artists describe their earnings are ‘unstable’ or ‘very unstable’