SAU Membership Survey Report 2023

The SAU Membership Survey 2023

SAU has undertaken several member surveys in the past, and we wished to repeat this process in 2023 with revised questions. The intention of the member survey was to enable us to build a comprehensive picture of the issues, concerns and patterns of artist’s working lives and to focus future campaigns and work accordingly. Four hundred and twenty SAU members completed the independently conducted anonymous survey, providing a profile of the SAU membership and a snapshot of the issues and concerns currently facing the visual and applied arts sector in Scotland.

You can download a copy of the survey HERE

Here are some Key findings : 

78% of artists are self-employed and 47% are full time practitioners. 

59% earn less than £9k per year and only 11% earn more than £20k per year.

33% are disabled and 25% are neurodivergent.

40% have informal caring responsibilities.

25% are struggling to meet their living costs.

64% feel concerned about retirement provision.

42% have experienced discrimination in their art sector workplace.

45% have experienced contractual issues, often from lack of contracts. 

33% are never paid according to SAU recommended payment guidelines.

Only 35% are confident they will be able to pay their studio rent over the next year.

78% say that Brexit has had a negative impact on their visual and applied arts practice.

We would also like to give a big THANK YOU to all our members who gave up their time to complete the survey, we really appreciate the involvement of everyone who took part.

The survey was undertaken by Independent researcher Ruth Stevenson, of Ruthless Research, who was commissioned to design, manage and analyse this survey. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ruth for all her work on this important survey.