Thriving, not just surviving [Update December 2023]

Less anxiety and depression, more time and resources to spend on their practice; 2 of the key findings from the first impact assessment of Ireland’s Basic Income for the Arts, its 3-year pilot scheme of paying a basic income to a selected group of artists. As part of the programme, regular assessments would review how the payments were affecting recipients’ lives and practice, and compared with a control group not receiving payments. The first of these reports covering the first 6 months of the scheme is just published. 

However, within the data on Arts Work Viability, Well-Being, and Income Impacts was a section that has really made me think, Enforced Deprivation Rate. A list of eleven items, such as being unable to afford to keep home adequately warm, unable to afford new (not second-hand) clothes, and unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day; Ireland’s Central Statistics Office considers a household to be experiencing enforced deprivation if 2 or more of the 11 are selected. I wonder how many UK artists (even some working artists) would tick that box.

As for the lived experience of artists receiving the basic income, this interview with painter Gearóid O’Dea makes it clear the lifeline it is.