Survey shows need for emergency support for self-employed in cultural sector

There is an urgent need for emergency support for the large group of self-employed workers in the cultural sector. The 300 million in emergency support that the government released for this sector at the beginning of the corona crisis is barely trickling down to them. This is according to a survey of more than 1,500 freelancers, especially musicians, makers and technicians, on the eve of the debate on culture in the Lower House.

There is a threat of a haircut in the performing arts, the survey shows. Nearly 61% of respondents indicated that commissions were cancelled up to December. Almost 40% even face cancellation after December. More than 70% are fairly to very concerned about their financial situation from September onwards. Asked about the need to find or expand work outside the industry, 43% say they feel compelled to do so to a large extent. Overall, 27% want to retrain.

"The survey shows what we constantly hear from colleagues: people have their backs against the wall. It's five to twelve. They are uncertain about the future. These are people who in recent years, despite all the cutbacks in the sector, were able to earn a good income in this. But because of the corona crisis, they are rapidly tapping into their reserves. If, in the short term, there is no prospect of additional measures or full restart of work, many freelancers will not bridge the crisis," say musicians Mattijs van de Woerd and Marjolein Niels, who initiated the research, together with the Platform for Freelance Musicians and with the cooperation of GroenLinks.

An adequate emergency package is needed to avoid capital destruction and a brain drain, says Green Left. The party helped make the survey possible in order to gain better insight for policy proposals. "The survey paints a disconcerting picture of the barrenness looming in the cultural sector. There is a silent disaster going on. Too little attention is being paid to the specific situation of the large number of people without a permanent contract working in this sector," said Niels van den Berge, GroenLinks MP.

According to Van den Berge, a lack of understanding of the situation of self-employed people is partly to blame for the government's slowness in providing emergency support. "With this study, we wanted to give a picture. You can see that the support that has now been released - 300 million euros - goes mainly to cultural institutions, and not to the many self-employed. We therefore call on the cabinet: take a second step."

An emergency package of 1 billion euros is needed for the cultural sector, including a support fund of 200 million for freelancers and the self-employed say PvdA, SP and GroenLinks. According to CBS, the sector accounts for 3.7 per cent of gross domestic product. Some 60% of the cultural sector runs on self-employed workers, who make a living with various (short-term) projects and activities. Some 30,000 self-employed people are now unable to claim support measures.