Almost a third of jobs in the arts, entertainment and recreation industry pay below the living wage, survey finds
May 2025 - Culture and Heritage
Almost a third of jobs in the arts, entertainment and recreation industry pay below living wage, survey finds: Research by the Living Wage Foundation has found that 29.2% of jobs in the arts, entertainment and recreation industry pay below the national living wage threshold. Only the hospitality industry (53.6%) and the retail sector (30%) have a higher proportion of jobs below the set wage.
The Living Wage Foundation published the report in early 2025 entitled ‘Employee jobs paid below the real Living Wage: 2024’ which examines the scale of low pay in the UK. The report highlights industries which have a significant proportion of employees working for below the real living wage as well as wage changes over time, by gender and working hours.
The real living wage is the only wage rate based solely on what it costs to live. It in indepdently calculated by The Resolution Foundation each year based on a social consensus of living costs and the process is overseen by the The Living Wage Commission. The findings of this report are based on the 2024 rate, which was £13.15/hour in London and £12/hour across the rest of the UK. The new rate as of April 2025 is £13.85 in London and £12.60 across the rest of the UK.
The percentage of rolesin the arts, entertainment and recreation industry which are not receiving the real living wage equates to 175,000 jobs across the UK. This places the industry fourth in terms of the total number of jobs below the threshold, and third highest in terms of proportion, as previously noted.
Interestingly, this latest research reveals the biggest rise in both the proportion and number of jobs in the UK which are paid below the real living wage since the series of reports were first published in 2012. There was an increase of 800,000 jobs paid below the real living wage in 2024, taking the total figure up to 4.5 million, equivalent to 15.7% of employees jobs in the UK. Part-time employees were also 3 times more likely to be paid less than the real living wage, compared to employees working full-time.
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