Balancing Act: Take Two
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Headlines
Balancing Act: Take Two report highlights deepening struggles for parents and carers in performing arts amid industry uncertainty.
Published: 21st May 2024
The second edition of the Parents and Carers in Performing Arts (PiPA) benchmark survey ‘Balancing Act: Take Two’ reveals a concerning deterioration in conditions for parents and carers within the performing arts sector.
Birkbeck, University of London, was commissioned by PiPA to lead the research which underscores a growing pay disparity, escalating rates of underemployment, and the significant toll of work-life imbalance on mental health and overall well-being.
1,250 UK workers from the performing arts, on-stage, backstage, administrative and executive, employed and self-employed, including over 1,000 parents and carers, took part in the Balancing Act: Take Two survey.
Cassie Raine, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Parents and Carers in Performing Arts comments:
“It’s encouraging that we are seeing evidence of increased support from employers but it’s not enough – the situation is desperate for so many families. People can’t work because they’re looking after loved ones, so they’re left with no choice but to turn down jobs, borrow money, and even rely on food banks. These are tough times for the sector but parents and carers can’t be the collateral damage, especially as we have the solutions at PiPA that we know make a difference.”
Professor Almuth McDowall from Birkbeck’s Department of Organizational Psychology led the research. She says:
“As an academic, lifelong supporter of the arts and former dancer it was sobering to analyse the data. Working conditions in the performing arts are not sustainable. It’s now more difficult than five years ago to sustain a living wage. Conditions have become more insecure and precarious, and people’s family planning choices are affected. If we want work on the stage to reflect UK society, then urgent action is required from government, policy makers and employers”.
Key Findings
The £7000 'Pay Penalty'
Parents and carers pay penalty has more than doubled to £7,000 (since 2018) compared to workers without caring responsibilities.
Eight out of ten
women working in the arts had to cut down working hours to manage caring responsibilities.
Two-thirds
of freelance performing arts workers say that having a child would limit their careers.
Six out of ten people
reported difficulty managing both work and family compared to 48% in 2018.
What PiPA does is working...
Almost three out of ten people (29%) report that a supportive employer had helped them continue working in 2023, compared to just 4% in 2018.
Food banks and selling homes
A small but significant number of people (4%) have had to use a food bank and or have sold or released equity from their homes (2%).
Recommendations:
- Provide flexible, ad-hoc childcare provision that is subsidised and accessible for freelancers.
- Embed inclusive working practices and additional support, including freelancers with caring responsibilities.
- Deliver return to work provision for freelancers after pregnancy and/ or other caring-related leave
- Monitor and publish data on caring responsibilities and people metrics across the sector, including freelancers.
- Develop equitable parental and caring policies for freelancers, including paternity allowance, shared parental leave, and carers leave.
- Download the full report