New Creative Access research for Young Carers’ Action Day highlights specific challenges facing this group in the creative industries
A young carer is defined as someone under the age of 25 who cares for a friend or family member who, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without their support.* To coincide with #YoungCarersActionDay on 16th March, Creative Access conducted research and a focus group with both current and young carers to gage how this often over-looked and under-represented group can be better supported in the creative industries.
Key findings from the survey included:
- 70% of participants were under the age of 20 when they first started caring for someone
- 80% felt like caring had an impact on their health and wellbeing
- 80% felt like they missed out on opportunities
- 65% decided to not apply for a new role because of their caring responsibilities
- 60% felt like they were unable to network or attend industry events
- 30% felt like they weren’t supported in the workplace
The statistic that 70% of the participants had started caring for someone under the age of 20 is particularly shocking. Members of the focus group explained how caring at such a young – and pivotal – age actually led to a lack of opportunities such as missing out on networking and industry events due to caring responsibilities and financial constraints.
“I remember things like gap years or trips with universities or school. Those are the types of opportunities I missed out on. You do have a sense of, what if I had been able to do that. Maybe if I’d had that opportunity early, I could have progressed further in my career.”
In response to the call to action surrounding young carer’s needs within the workplace, Creative Access has created a resource directed at young carers themselves on how to navigate their caring responsibilities in the workplace, but also so employers can better understand their needs.
One member of the focus group encapsulated how employers can make this change:
“Employers need to understand that we often don’t know what the next day will be like. Things like an employer saying you can start an hour later or finish earlier and then make up the time make a real difference.”
The pandemic has disproportionately affected under-represented groups in the creative industries, and young carers in particular have been profoundly impacted by the past 2 years. A Carers Trust survey found that 78% of young adult carers aged 18 to 25 were experiencing increased concern for their futures since Coronavirus. Despite this negative impact, one positive aspect of the pandemic referenced by the participants was the benefits of working from home. As one participant emphasised:
“It’s annoying that it took a pandemic to change [attitudes to] flexible working when young carers have been around long before. It’s annoying that it took that for people to realise!”.
However, young carers expressed worries about returning to the office post-pandemic, as well as non-inclusive work cultures within the creative industries, particularly within TV:
“In the industries I work in, they expect you to come in at 7 am and finish when you finish, e.g. 9 or 10. I quickly realised it wouldn’t work, and I didn’t apply again. The nature of shift work is long and gruelling hours.”
In spite of this, Creative Access’ findings did highlight the unique skills and attributes that young carers can bring to the workplace. The participants frequently cited their empathy, time management, patience and crisis management abilities, as well as practical skills such as first aid training and Covid awareness. Of the positive attributes that young carers bring to the workplace, one participant said:
“Being more resilient; thicker skin. If a crisis comes up at work, I don’t lose my cool – I can persevere through”.
Josie Dobrin, CEO of Creative Access says: “At Creative Access, we are constantly striving to ensure better representation and support for people from communities under-represented in the sector. As today’s research shows, young carers are a group who face specific challenges and are not currently getting the recognition and support they need at work. We are hopeful that following our findings, employers will recognise the urgent need to create inclusive workplaces that support carers and the valuable perspective this group bring to the creative industries.”
*Cited from Carer’s Trust: https://carers.org/about-caring/about-young-carers
The pandemic has worsened pre-existing inequalities in the creative and cultural industries by causing job insecurity and financial instability among ethnically diverse people employed in the sector, according to a new report. This is particularly concerning given the underrepresentation of these groups within the industries.
Experts from The University of Manchester’s Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity partnered with career support organisation Creative Access to collect data on the experiences of ethnically diverse workers – and those aspiring to work – in the industries.
The researchers found that only 29% of respondents were in employment a year after the first lockdowns – a huge drop of 22 percentage points – and 48% of respondents said they are either becoming financially unstable or need immediate assistance to pay their bills.
The overwhelming majority of ethnically diverse creative workers report feeling anxious or worried, with insecurity being a major contributing factor – 70% of all respondents were worried about their job security, and a staggering 89% of workers with over 10 years of experience said the pandemic had made their job less secure.
One respondent told the researchers that they were unable to claim money from the SEISS [Self-Employment Income Support Scheme] despite having no income – they were existing on Universal Credit, which was barely enough to cover their outgoings. They said their mental health had plummeted from not being able to secure any kind of work.
58% of respondents said that their primary source of income had changed, and alarmingly, 30% of these said they had left the creative and cultural industries for another sector – this suggests a risk that as the industry recovers from the aftermath of the pandemic, it may be even less diverse than before.
37% of respondents said their careers had been affected by discrimination because of their ethnic or racial identity, but many reported that 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests had only seen limited subsequent improvements despite many employers declaring their intent to reduce discrimination and increase diversity. Only 14% agreed that more paid opportunities were available as a result of the protests, and these were also likely to be junior positions.
The report’s authors are calling for a host of changes at creative and cultural organisations to tackle these issues including the adoption of employment targets, guidelines for recruitment practices and financial incentives for organisations which develop targeted schemes for graduates from ethnically diverse backgrounds who have lost out as a result of the pandemic.
“Our findings are extremely worrying because they demonstrate that ethnically diverse creatives and cultural workers are having to deal with the severe impact of Covid on employment in the creative and cultural industries, on top of pre-existing racism, and indicates a potentially lost generation of ethnically diverse talent who are struggling to enter the sector,” said Roaa Ali from the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity. “We believe that the pandemic has significantly compounded issues of ethnic and racial inequality in the sector, and we are calling for urgent and specific actions championed by both industry and policy decision makers to address this – this, too, is integral to the levelling up agenda.”
“The creative and cultural industries were already the site of fundamental race and ethnic inequalities, and our findings suggest that the pandemic has deepened them,” said Professor Bridget Byrne from the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity. “This sector is critical not only for its contribution to the economy, but also because it shapes the cultural life of the country – this is why structural racism faced within the sector is so concerning.”
“We need action within individual organisations, but also more broadly at a policy level to both collect the data needed to track ethnic inequalities and also to implement proactive actions to ensure that ethnically diverse people have fair access to training, jobs and promotion within the sector.”
“Clearly, the Covid pandemic hit everyone who works in creative and cultural industries – but it also exasperated existing inequalities in this sector,” said Dr Anamik Saha from the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity and Goldsmiths, University of London. “While media and cultural organisations were quick to pronounce their support for the Black Lives Matter protests that occurred during the pandemic, our research found this translated into relatively few new opportunities for Black people in particular.”
“Our hope is that in shining a light on their circumstances, media and cultural organisations can better support creative workers from minoritised communities, ensuring fair and equal treatment during these difficult times.”
“On the second anniversary of the pandemic, we are seeing yet further proof of the disproportionate impact of covid on people from groups under-represented in the creative industries in terms of ethnicity. With the huge loss of funding, income and job opportunities in the sector, it’s critical that organisations like ours work with employer partners to ensure that people from these communities do not lose out on career access or progression as a result,” says Josie Dobrin, founder and CEO, Creative Access.
‘The impact of Covid-19 and BLM on Black, Asian and ethnically diverse creatives and cultural workers’ R Ali, S Guirand, B Byrne, A Saha and H Taylor, Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity, March 2022.
Watch the recording of ‘On and off screen diversity: Why does it matter?‘ an event held on Thursday, 11 November 2021. Speakers: Roaa Ali (CoDE), Sadia Habib and Shaf Choudry (The Riz Test) and Josie Dobrin (Creative Access).
The University of Manchester’s Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity partnered with Creative Access to understand the experiences of ethnically diverse workers – and those aspiring to work – in the creative industries as an effect of the pandemic and BLM.
Mirage News has reported the findings here.
ITV Granada have covered Creative Access and the University of Manchester’s Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity findings that nearly half of ethnically diverse people in creative industries need help paying their bills and that only 29% of ethnically diverse people in creative industries were in employment in March 2021, down from 51%, amongst other results.
The 2022 grant recipients of the Mo Siewcharran Fund, administered by Creative Access, are Saqi Books, The Reader and the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme. Each organisation will be taking on a paid intern from a Black, Asian or ethnically-diverse background because of the Fund.
The Fund was set up by John Seaton in loving memory of his wife, Mo, who was the director of Nielson BookData.
Read BookBrunch’s article in full here.
Heloise Wood in The Bookseller has reported the latest round of grant recipients from the Mo Siewcharran Fund, administered by Creative Access. Saqi Books, The Reader and the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme will all be taking on a paid intern from a Black, Asian or ethnically-diverse background because of the Fund.
The Fund was set up by John Seaton in loving memory of his wife, Mo, who was the director of Nielson BookData.
Read The Bookseller article here.
Creative Access has announced the first 2022 grants from the Mo Siewcharran Fund to support internships for talent from Black, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds. The Fund grants, which are administered by Creative Access, have been awarded to three impressive organisations working to change the face of the creative industries: The Reader, a national charity working to make literature accessible to all; Saqi Books, a leading independent publisher of trade and academic books on the Middle East and North Africa and the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme (RTYDS), the UK’s foremost programme of paid professional development for theatre directors.
The Fund was set up in memory of former Nielsen BookData Director Mo Siewcharran, who was passionate about ensuring theatre and publishing were accessible to all, and supports internships for talent from Black, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds, which are groups under-represented in the creative industries.
The pandemic has had a devastating impact on people working in publishing and theatre. Creative Access research, conducted in May 2020 and then again in December 2021, shows financial stability has declined dramatically with just 26% of those working in publishing and 34% in theatre describing themselves as financially stable versus 55% in both sectors who had said the same in May 2020. 29% of people in theatre and 26% in publishing said the pandemic had negatively impacted their job security – 26% for those from Black, Asian or other ethnic backgrounds.
John Seaton, Mo’s husband and founder of the Fund, said, “As we come out of the pandemic, it is great to be awarding the first grants of 2022 to three organisations that are leading the way in creating a more diverse and inclusive culture in publishing and theatre. The past two years have been incredibly challenging for the sector, but we now have a real opportunity to make fundamental improvements by changing hiring practices and recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds and I am very pleased that the Mo Siewcharran Fund is playing an active role in this mission.”
Josie Dobrin, CEO and founder, Creative Access, said, “It’s a privilege to partner with John in managing the Mo Siewcharran Fund and to be awarding the first grants of 2022 to three incredible organisations who share our passion to make theatre and publishing more accessible, inclusive and representative. We’re excited to see the talent coming forward to take up the internships with these organisations and the impact they will have on the future of the industry.”
“The Reader is really excited to be able to offer this role of Literature Directorate Assistant. We know that roles in an organisation focused on literature may not feel relevant or accessible for many individuals, particularly if you are from an under-represented background or have an unconventional work/education history. The Mo Siewcharran Fund and Creative Access are supporting us to reach wider in our recruitment to find someone who has a love of reading and support them to become an integral part of our team”
Alison Speight Development Coordinator, The Reader
“We at Saqi are over the moon that an intern will be joining the team in 2022 and are grateful to the Mo Siewcharran Fund for this opportunity. We look forward to helping a publishing professional embark on their career and to a time in the future when employees across the industry reflect the UK population”
Cassie Lawrence Publicity & Marketing Executive, Saqi Books
“RTYDS and Creative Access share the aim of enabling people from communities under-represented in theatre to access careers, progress and reach leadership positions. We’re excited that we can work together to offer a paid Trainee Programme Producer role at RTYDS with the support of the Mo Siewcharran Fund”
Sue Emmas, Artistic Director, RTYDS
The Fund is once again open for other theatre or publishing organisations wishing to support internships for those from under-represented communities. Those interested in applying should contact lucy@creativeaccess.org.uk. The deadline for the next round of applications is 1st July 2022.
Karolina Kaminska in C21 has written about Creative Access’ new partnership with Nutopia to drive diversity in senior leadership in the TV industry. Read Karolina’s article here.
In Adele Redmond’s latest article for Arts Professional, she discusses the recent difficulties in recruiting to arts roles, which is prompting claims of a “great resignation” from the sector. She states: “New staff are demanding higher pay and more flexible working conditions than before the pandemic, leading to imbalances in some organisations.”
Redmond highlights Creative Access’ research into how under-represented groups have been affected by the pandemic, specifically that mental wellbeing is a priority for nearly two thirds (61%) of the Creative Access community and that in a snap survey we conducted last month, 96% said a four-day work week would be good for their career.
Read the article in full here.
Televisual have highlighted Creative Access and Nutopia’s new partnership, alongside National Geographic. The collaboration will address the under-representation of people from Black, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds at senior levels in the TV industry through hiring 2 individuals working as a line producer, producer, series producer, or director level to accelerate to the next level or move into high end factual TV.
Read more about the partnership here.
Apply for the opportunity.
In Broadcast’s In Brief section, John Elmes and Alex Farber wrote: “Indie Nutopia has teamed up with Creative Access to provide opportunities to execs from black, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds through its recently launched Nutopia Partnerships scheme.”
They further detailed how vital this move is by Creative Access and Nutopia: “With less than 10% of senior productions roles in the UK held by people from BAME backgrounds, Nutopia Partnerships is an accelerator programme intended to help overcome this challenge.”
Read the article here.
Ambitious Nutopia x Creative Access positive action programme offers opportunity to join the team on a new global adventure series
Award-winning production company Nutopia and Creative Access, the leading diversity social enterprise, are today launching ‘Nutopia Partnerships,’ an ambitious new collaboration to address the under-representation of people from Black, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds at senior levels in the TV industry.
As part of the new landmark programme, Nutopia is offering a unique opportunity, funded by National Geographic, for four experienced individuals to join the team on a multi-part multi year global adventure series.
Less than 10% of senior production roles in the UK TV industry are held by people from Black, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds, according to the Creative Diversity Network*. The Nutopia Partnerships initiative is the first programme of its kind specifically designed to tackle senior-level diversity in the industry and the first to be led by an independent production company. It is part of Nutopia’s ambitious new diversity and inclusion strategy spearheaded by CEO and Founder, Jane Root and supported by Creative Access, who work with over 450 employers across the creative industries to enable them to be more accessible, representative and inclusive through progressive recruitment, training and mentoring.
The Nutopia Partnerships will be an accelerator programme aimed at creating the next generation of creative leaders by offering a training opportunity to traditionally underrepresented groups.
From today candidates from Black, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds, who have already taken on senior roles in TV and film. The positive action programme is designed for both the existing senior production team and the successful applicants to learn new skills and approaches. The successful candidates will receive insight and experience on the making of an episode from start to finish, under the guidance of senior leadership; deepen their leadership, financial and technical skills and have first-hand on location experience in the most challenging situations. They will bring new insights to our senior team, driving the next level of creative aspiration across Nutopia. To find out more and apply, click here.
“While we are seeing progress being made to address diversity at entry-level in the TV industry, the lack of diversity at senior levels remains a serious and concerning issue and is a real barrier to the retention and progression of the new, more diverse junior talent coming in to the industry,” says Josie Dobrin, founder and CEO, Creative Access.
“This new, industry-leading collaboration between Nutopia and Creative Access is designed to specifically target this issue. We are very proud to be working with Nutopia, as well as National Geographic to drive meaningful change in diversity at senior levels in the industry,”
“At Nutopia to achieve the next level of creative aspiration we need to invite people in and embed different voices and experiences in our core. We are proud to partner with National Geographic and Creative Access on the Nutopia Partnerships,” says Jane Root, founder and CEO, Nutopia.
“Our aim is to create a lasting legacy within factual television across senior levels. There’s much work to be done, and we will continue to learn as we make progress through our most comprehensive initiative to date.”
Who is eligible to apply?
Candidates applying should be currently working at Line Producer/Producer / Series Producer / Director level or similar and looking to further progress to the next level or make the move into high end factual TV. The Nutopia Partnerships are designed to give the successful candidates space to bring their creativity into the world of factual adventure.
As a Nutopia Partner they will embark on a 12-month programme that will take them through all the processes of senior leadership in a multi-part global factual series, from development of the episode story, production on location with a large crew and then edit oversight.
In addition, they will also be provided with a curriculum of leadership coaching, a bespoke training plan with focus areas for individual development and a mentor, to give them the skills and experience to make the move into a senior role in the premium factual genre. They will be funded to participate at a rate commensurate with current salary.
The ‘Nutopia Partnerships’ will run over two years. There will be four Nutopia Partners who each join the team for 12 months and we are looking for people to join the 2022 cohort.
*Source: UK Race and Ethnic Diversity: a deep dive into Diamond data, Creative Diversity Network, October 2020
FURTHER APPLICATION DETAILS
The Nutopia Partnership project will run over two years. There will be four Nutopia Partners in total, completing 1 year each and recruitment is opening from February 10th for year one.
The team particularly want to hear from adaptable and collaborative individuals with the following knowledge, skills, and experience:
- Demonstrable experience at mid- senior level, Line Producer, Producer, Series Producer
- The desire to learn more about the whole process of making high-end factual entertainment TV.
- Proven creative leadership
- Excellent interpersonal skills, able to maintain key relationships with multiple stakeholders.
- Confidence to think analytically and make effective decisions in fast changing environments.
- A commitment to this project for 12 months with an interest in building a career in factual documentary.
To apply
Please upload your CV & covering letter as a single document to Creative Access by 3rd, March 2022.
The partnership has been covered in Televisual, Broadcast and C21 Media.