Income is a crucial factor in life security and satisfaction for any individual and their whānau in New Zealand, but for workers in the arts, this relationship is much less straightforward.

Research commissioned by Toi Mai and undertaken by Motu Research has found that arts workers in New Zealand have higher life satisfaction than workers in non-creative fields, sacrificing stability and security for the ability to do work they love in a field with prospects of lower income and fewer opportunities.

Published in the new report Working for fun? The impact of employment in the arts sector on wellbeing, the research sought to understand whether one reason why people work and remain working in the arts sector is due to its positive impact on wellbeing, despite a deep-rooted lack of financial stability in the sector.

The report brings to light the need to address the underlying structural issues that hinder arts workers and prevent them from achieving financial parity with other professions.

“The ‘so-what’ question this research leads to is: is that acceptable?,” says Dr Claire Robinson, Toi Mai CEO.

“There is a widespread assumption in the community that it is OK for arts workers to receive low pay because they love the work. This is the same argument that was used for underpaying the predominantly female teaching and nursing workforce 50 years ago. Toi Mai believes that all people should have the opportunity to do a job they love and get paid fairly for it.”

Working for fun? found that although arts workers gain greater wellbeing from doing something they love, they are paid on average 20% less than non-arts workers. Key factors influencing this include hours worked, highlighting the limited opportunities available to build a sustainable career in their arts profession.

This echoes findings from Creative New Zealand’s Profile of Creative Professionals 2023, which found that 44% of arts workers had to undertake paid work outside the creative sector to get by, with “roughly 40% of creative professionals . . . spending less time on their career than they would like” (Creative New Zealand, 2023).

“We now need to look at the structural factors underpinning the creative industries to understand what needs adjustment to increase arts workers income”, says Claire.

Working for fun? is just the latest part of the conversation towards achieving adequate support for our nation’s arts workers and allowing all in New Zealand’s wider workforce the same opportunity to thrive.

The research report Working for fun? The impact of employment in the arts sector on wellbeing is now available online, via the following links:

(Web version) Working for fun? The impact of employment in the arts sector on wellbeing

(PDF Print version) Working for fun? The impact of employment in the arts sector on wellbeing

(Word Print version) Working for fun? The impact of employment in the arts sector on wellbeing

(PDF version) Non-technical summary of Working for fun? The impact of employment in the arts sector on wellbeing

About Motu Research

Motu Research is the top-ranked economics organisation in Aotearoa New Zealand, according to the Research Papers in Economics website, which ranks all economists and economic research organisations in the world based on the quantity and quality of their research publications.

Motu Research is independent and never advocates an expressed ideology or political position. A not-for-profit and charitable trust, Motu Research is founded on the belief that sound public policy depends on rigorous research, accompanied by well-informed and reasoned debate.

For more information, visit https://www.motu.nz