Legislation needed to improve financial security for freelancers

There is a need for changes to government policy and for sector-wide guidelines and regulations to be introduced to ensure fairer working conditions for the sector’s freelance workforce, a report commissioned by Arts Council England (ACE) has said.

The report, which is the funding body’s largest-scale research into the creative freelance workforce to date, features over 5,000 responses to a survey run in October 2023, alongside a literature review and data from 27 focus groups and 53 one-to-one interviews.

Its conclusion highlights eight key areas for consideration – pay, security, long-term planning, respect and recognition, recourse and rights, professional development, training and community, equality, diversity, accession and inclusion, and wellbeing and support – to better support the sector’s freelance workforce.

It says evidence points to the need for changes to government policy and where necessary, legislation, to enhance financial security for freelancers, including via access to sick pay, benefits, maternity pay and developmental funding opportunities.

The report found a significant majority of freelancers work on a freelance basis because it is their only option in the sector. To address this reliance on freelancing due to limited alternative options, the report suggests the sector explores ways to increase non-freelance employment opportunities across all disciplinary areas.

“The clear finding that creative and cultural practitioners are often not working freelance by choice exacerbates the disparity between freelancers and those who are employed, as the benefits of working freelance in other sectors are generally not felt in the creative and cultural sector,” the report states.

“The sector is perceived to be reliant on copious amounts of goodwill, dedication and commitment from freelancers.”

Another conclusion says the evidence gathered points to the “urgent need” for sector-wide guidelines and regulations to ensure fair pay, including transparent costing processes, adherence to minimum wage standards and pay equity comparable to PAYE employees. 

Almost three quarters (73%) of respondents reported pre-tax earnings of less than £25,000 annually from their freelance work, despite a significant amount holding graduate and post-graduate qualifications.

While 77% of freelancers in the study said they expect to continue working in the sector on a freelance basis, less than half (43%) said they would recommend freelancing in the creative cultural sector.

ACE’s conclusion adds that it found evidence of distinct challenges experienced by creative and cultural freelancers, namely an ‘overwork-underpayment’ bind, with 43% of respondents reporting being asked or required to take on more work than they can feasibly do in the hours they are paid for, and a rejection norm that shapes efforts to secure work and impacts freelancers’ mental health.

ACE commitments

In a blog post, ACE chief executive Darren Henley said the funding body is “committed to enhancing the support we currently provide to individuals in the workplace”.

“The data from this study allows us to compare and contrast between different disciplines, demographics, and locations, helping us to better understand and respond to the varying challenges face by freelancers,” Henley wrote.

“This in turn will guide how we work with and for individual practitioners in the future.”

He added that ACE’s first director for individual practitioners, Yasmin Khan, is developing proposals for action based on the findings of the survey, beginning with a series of solutions-focused roundtable conversations with freelancers, organisations and sector bodies.

Khan’s role, first announced in July, is designed to allow ACE “to strengthen its support for freelancers, connect policy with practice, and embed and refine strategic interventions in this vital area,” Henley said.

In September, a letter addressed to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy by over 4,000 visual artists and organisations reignited calls for government to appoint a freelance commissioner.