Arts Employment Survey – the results are in!

A big thank you to those who completed the employment survey, which we developed with the Family and Childcare Trust in order to cast new insight on how family-friendly the arts sector is as an employer. Key findings of the survey are outlined below.

New survey of arts employees shows one in four respondents believe they are judged negatively because they have caring responsibilities

The results of a new survey cast new insight on how family-friendly the arts sector is as an employer.

The survey, conducted by the Family Arts Campaign working with the Family and Childcare Trust, has questioned workers on issues of importance to those with caring responsibility. Focusing on areas such as communication between employer and employee, parental leave, and perceptions around flexible working opportunities, the results have revealed the current state of practice within the arts sector.

Key findings:

One in four respondents with caring responsibilities (24%) feel they are judged negatively because they have a caring responsibility. Strikingly, those working in performing arts venues or performing arts companies without a permanent base (e.g. touring theatre or dance companies, orchestras, etc.) found this was more of a problem than those working in galleries, museums or other exhibition spaces, or arts education companies (30% against 0%).

• Almost two thirds of respondents with caring responsibilities (63%) have not been asked by their organisation or manager about their needs as a parent or carer; a figure which rises to 73% when considering only male respondents.
• However, seven in ten respondents with caring responsibilities (71%) feel comfortable telling their manager about those caring responsibilities. This figure decreases with seniority within organisations: 79% of support staff feel comfortable, compared to 70% of managers and 52% of chief executives or directors.

Compared to data from other sectors, the arts scored positively around employee opinions of flexible working and job share opportunities.

The Campaign hopes the results of the survey will start a discussion around matters of importance to workers within the arts with caring responsibilities, not just for those directly employed by arts organisations but also for artists and other freelance arts professionals.

Click here to view more details in the Executive Summary.