By Atanu Biswas, Professor of Statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
After the success of a three-year-long pilot project, Ireland became the first country in the world to introduce a permanent basic income policy for artists. It’s truly remarkable. Some other places, such as New York, San Francisco, or St. Paul in Minnesota, have had similar programmes for artists, although only temporary or pilot projects. However, the Irish programme is the first permanent one of its kind, and Patrick O’Donovan, Ireland’s culture minister, had enough reason to call it “the envy of the world” and “a tremendous achievement” for the country.
Many great artists of the past were able to create famous works because they had the support of powerful patrons. Governments in many countries today continue to support artists by providing funding for public art projects, museums, and art colleges. There’s a catch, though. Artists’ freedom may become limited if the government wields too much control.
As William Deresiewicz, a prominent critic of the arts and culture, observed in a 2015 article in The Atlantic titled “The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur”, the career of artists is currently undergoing a unique phase of evolution. “Artists will inevitably spend a lot more time looking over their shoulder, trying to figure out what the customer wants rather than what they themselves are seeking to say,” Deresiewicz intuited. Later, in his 2020 book,
The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech, drawing on interviews with artists of all kinds, Deresiewicz argued that we are living through a moment of revolutionary change. If artists were artisans of the Renaissance, bohemians of the nineteenth century, and professionals of the twentieth, a new model is emerging in the digital era that is transforming our fundamental assumptions about the nature of art and the role of the artist in society.
In fact, American anthropologist, author, and anarchist David Graeber told the French-language magazine Socialter that in the 20th century, England would produce an incredible musical movement that would sweep the globe every decade or so. Why is it not happening anymore, Graeber wondered. “Where is the next John Lennon? Probably packing boxes in a supermarket somewhere,” he said.
The pandemic had made things worse for artists, for sure. To support artists and creative arts workers after Covid-19, Ireland launched a Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot project (2022-2025). It paid 2,000 successful applicants a weekly income of €325 compared to a control group of 1,000. “This new grant will create a floor and a safety net for artists,” said Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s Tánaiste at the time.
In Ireland, the definition of “creative arts worker” is very wide. It covers anyone who has a creative occupation whose work has a significant influence on the production, interpretation, or exhibition of arts. Whether traditional or contemporary, “arts” cover any form of creative or interpretive expression, such as visual arts, theatre, literature, music, dance, opera, film, circus, and architecture. It also covers any medium used for those purposes. For instance, choreographers in dance and make-up and set designers in theatre are covered by the definition.
The Irish pilot project produced significant impact. According to research, for every euro invested in the Irish pilot project, wider society received €1.39 in return. Sociologist Jenny Dagg of Maynooth University declared it a victory for everyone but noted that the weekly payments were not enough to support artists fully. The basic income amount, indeed, is only about 30% of the average gross annual salary in Ireland.
However, the significantly lower levels of anxiety or despair and the 20% lower chance of experiencing forced hardship were two key benefits of the programme. It’s pertinent to note that female beneficiaries experienced the most improvement in their psychological and overall well-being.
As per the cost-benefit analysis, artists experienced an average monthly increase of almost €500 in arts-related income and an increase of €333 in arts-related expenses. At the same time, their dependence on social assistance reduced, and their income from non-arts employment decreased by almost €280. This shows that the programme has resulted in the improvement and transformation of the lives of artists, as they are now able to complete their work, remain in the sector, and interact with their audience.
However, it should not be forgotten that the BIA is not a universal basic income. The aim of this targeted policy intervention is to support working artists and creative arts professionals to focus on their artistic pursuits. Moreover, in a recent public consultation, 97% of the public and the arts sector have agreed that the scheme should be made permanent. And, as reported, inspired by the Irish example, the Scottish government is actively considering a similar basic income scheme for artists.
The link between artistic and labour values in the Irish study was explored in a paper published in the journal Cultural Trends in July 2025. In addition to providing significant support to a broad demographic range of artists and arts workers, it offers a unique example worldwide of how a national cultural policy instrument can inform that emerging story and offer insights into how some aspects of a basic income policy might operate if introduced for the general population.
“If we value art, we must support a basic income,” Canadian tech journalist and author Paris Marx also said in an essay on Medium 10 years ago. And “take a bunch of working-class kids, give them enough money for them to hang around and play together, and you get the Beatles”, was David Graeber’s direct answer. The ball is rolling now. Who knows, maybe the world will become more artful!