Three out of four professional actors are officially poor

THE WORLD Madrid

Madrid

Updated Thursday, February 1, 2024-12:16

• Report A third of the actors live below the poverty line

The good news is that things have improved. The headline of the last report published in 2016 (the 2020 report focused on the pandemic) was delivered with a cold and forceful 8.17%.

That is to say, not even one in 10 professional interpreters achieved an annual income level of 12,000 euros

(an amount, keep in mind, below the minimum wage).

Now, everything looks a little better and the figure reaches 23%.

But, all in all, there is no reason for enthusiasm. On the contrary, desolation continues its course. According to the '

5th socio-labor report of the Aisge Foundation'

(Performing Artists, Intellectual Property Rights Management Entity) recently presented, half of the professionals in the sector earn less than 3,000 euros per year, which translates to 72% is below the poverty line.

That is to say, and in order to be as graphic as possible,

three out of four acting professions are officially poor.

More data just as sad.

Only 7% of Spanish actors exceed an annual income of 30,000 euros.

And yet another,

men earn 40% higher annual income than women.

They work fewer days a year and are paid less. That's the most obvious thing. If you go ahead and delve even a little into the study, you discover that those who reach an income in a range of certain economic stability, above 18,000 euros, do not even reach 16% (9% between 18,000 and 30,000).

A comprehensive report

These are the most visible conclusions of the new installment of the Socio-labor Report of actors and dancers in Spain, a document presented today at its headquarters in Madrid that occupies almost 300 pages and that the AISGE Foundation has been preparing throughout 2023, based on

3,410 surveys

of its members. The sample is equivalent to 39% of the group represented by AISGE. Regarding previous analyzes of this nature, which the AISGE Foundation carried out in 2004, 2011, 2016 and 2020 (although the latter focused specifically on the impact of the pandemic on the collective), greater employability for artists is seen, but a

worsening of their working conditions.

The study reflects other trends that represent wear and tear for artists, such as that jobs of a certain duration "are a clear exception" in the sector or that stable staff "tends to disappear or be reduced, with ups and downs often being common." daily in Social Security". Thus, the salary aspirations of any average worker come face to face with reality in the case of interpreters: those who earn less than 3,000 euros, as we said, are 48% (68% in 2016) and those who Only 23% exceed the bar of 1,000 gross euros per month (17% in 2016). However, this apparent increase

"becomes a real decline in purchasing power"

, if we take into account that the 12,000 euros seven years ago would be equivalent, in constant prices, to only 9,926 euros at the current time.

The interpreters' plan B

Thus, those who resort to a second source of income are now 52% of the total, compared to 46% in 2016. Worse still: three quarters of those artists who resort to a second job (73%) end up performing a job that has nothing to do with their vocation, while

only the remaining 27% achieve an activity in the cultural sector itself.

"So, it is not only more difficult to live in Spain today with art, but to live close to art," reads the explicit note distributed by Aisge herself.

If compared to other sectors, there is a worrying fact. Although the level of unemployment in the collective is reduced to 14% (not much above the general unemployment rate in Spain), however,

almost half of these artists (46 percent, more specifically) lack coverage by public benefits,

which accentuates their dependence on public aid.

assistance nature. In fact, the AISGE Foundation has not stopped increasing its funds aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged. If in 2016 its expenditure on solidarity aid rose to 3.17 million, this amount was set in both 2021 and 2022 at 3.75 million. And in the specific case of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, it rose to 4.3 million euros, 35% more investment than in 2016. Otherwise, in 2016, the entity's solidarity aid They reached 756 members.

Those who benefited in 2022 were 1,926: almost three times more.

The crude summary is that 44% of the profession is, even with supplementary income,

below the so-called "poverty threshold"

(that is, their income does not exceed 60 percent of the average income of the country or territory). The figure more than doubles that recorded for the entire population: the national average of this poverty line was set at 20.4 percent in 2022.

Discrimination against women

In the case of women, worse. While their average annual artistic income is 8,320 euros, men earn 40.3 percent more, up to 11,677 euros.

They only prevail over them in the bands of extreme precariousness:

those with incomes of less than 600 euros per year (29% compared to 21%) and incomes between 601 and 3,000 euros (25% for them and 22% for them). In the other indicators, without exception, the performers lose out. If we look at total income, including other jobs and benefits, women end the year with 14,846 euros while men reach 18,363 euros (24% more). The annual count of days worked in the artistic sector is also lower: 62 days for them, 70 for them. Consequently, 54% of women have a second job beyond acting, compared to 49% among men.

"What are the reasons for these differences?" the report asks. Membership data by gender in AISGE remains almost identical 20 years ago, with approximately 53 percent of male members compared to 47 percent of female members. The conclusion drawn by the text leaves little doubt: "There may still be fewer roles in general for women than for men. And it is also possible that gender obligations - motherhood, caring for young children or dependent relatives - continue to limit the willingness to work much harder for them than for them.

Otherwise, it is called discrimination.