Research found that the scheme helped keep people – along with their skills and experience - in the arts sector. Image credit: Shutterstock.
The Basic Income for the Arts pilot provides 2,000 artists and creative arts workers with €325 a week - equivalent to about £285. It includes 584 musicians and comes to an end in February 2026.
Announcing that it will be made permanent, Ireland’s Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Patrick O’Donovan said:
“The Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme, which I extended this year, will end in 2026, and I will bring a successor scheme to Government with the intention of embedding a permanent basic income in the Arts and Culture sector. This scheme is the envy of the world, and a tremendous achievement for Ireland, and must be made futureproof and sustainable.”
At least 2,000 places are expected to be made available, with applications set to open in September 2026.
A basic income helps people work and live better
The Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot included funding for research to assess its impact. It found that the scheme helped keep people – along with their skills and experience - in the sector.
According to the research, 31% of BIA recipients reported an increased ability to sustain themselves through arts work alone, and the number of people who reported low pay as a career barrier went down from one third to 17%. These changes were identified after the first six months of the scheme and remained stable as the scheme continued.
By October 2024, BIA recipients were found to be more productive. They spent an average of 11 weekly hours more on their creative practice and were 14 percentage points more likely to have completed new works in the previous six months than the control group.
Artists on a basic income invested more money in their careers, spending €250 a month more on equipment, transport and other expenses than the control group.
There were also significant improvements in wellbeing. Basic income recipients were more likely to be able to afford basic necessities than the control group. They were also 15 percentage points less likely to have felt downhearted or depressed, and 16 percentage points less likely to have experienced anxiety than the control group.
At the same time, life satisfaction increased - 17% of BIA recipients reported high life satisfaction compared to only 5% of the control group. At the other end of the scale, 15% of BIA recipients reported low life satisfaction compared to 37% of the control group.
BIA recipients also spent almost 1 weekly hour more on leisure activities, 30 minutes more exercising, and 20 minutes more volunteering than the control group.
Changing how musicians work and live
Universal basic income is the idea of giving a fixed amount of money to every citizen, unconditionally.
It became union policy at the MU’s 39th Biennial Delegate Conference in summer 2021. Members discussed how a UBI could support the creation process, help musicians through periods of illness, and work with other key welfare support to create a level playing field for every musician.
The motion identified a basic income for arts workers, similar to the scheme for intermittent workers in the performing arts in France and now the basic income pilot in Ireland, as a step towards that goal.
Read more in our basic income for musicians deep dive.