COVID-19: UK survey shows female artists suffer more

This is according to a newly published COVID-19 report commissioned by UK organisation Parents in Performing Arts (PiPA) in October last year.

PiPA surveyed 500 respondents in the UK working in music, dance, theatre and opera about the impact of the pandemic.

Women, primary caretakers as well as deaf and disabled individuals are particularly hard-hit. One in four mothers and female caregivers working in the performing arts are doing 90% of childcare and their ability to work is being severely impacted.

“This report evidences the scale of impact on women in the performing arts workforce,” PiPA chairperson Sarah Jackson said. “With many crippled by the increase in caring responsibilities, they are struggling to hold down a job or put themselves forward for the little work that is available.”

About 63% of women are not certain that they will stay in the music industry. And more than one-third of women with caring responsibilities are experiencing a mental-health crisis. They are more likely to label themselves as ”really stressed’ or in ‘fight or flight’ mode (36%), compared to men (25%). Less women report that they are in the recovery or adaptation phase (13%) compared to men (23%).

For deaf and disabled parents and primary caretakers, who are mostly women, almost half (45%) are ‘really stressed’ or in ‘fight or flight’ mode.

Additionally, the report shows that UK government support has disadvantaged mothers and female caregivers working in the performing arts. One in four respondents failed to qualify for or qualified for significantly reduced aid from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). This was mostly due to women being on maternity leave or working reduced hours during the qualifying period to accommodate caring responsibilities.

Before the pandemic, women were already less likely to be securely employed and were less represented in senior roles. Single mothers, women from ethnically diverse backgrounds, deaf and disabled women, and economically disadvantaged women already faced significant barriers in their careers.

PiPA has called for urgent action and a review of the eligibility criteria for SEISS. It has also called on grant makers and funding bodies to add caring responsibilities to their mandatory monitoring requirements for recipients.