Report #12
Artists Compared by Age, Sex,
and Earnings in 1970 and 1976
National Endowment
for the Arts
Research Division
January 1980
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries
http://archive.org/details/artistscomparedbOOnati
Artists Compared by Age, Sex,
and Earnings in 1970 and 1976
National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C.
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Library of Congress Ca
talogin
g in P
ublication Data
National Endowmen
t for
the
Arts.
Research
Division.
Artists compar
ad by
age.
sex,
and earnings in
1970 and 1976.
(National Endowment
for
the Arts Research
Division report ;
12)
1. Artists — United
Stat
es--£
ocio-economic
status. 2. Arts
, Mod
srn —
20th
century —
United States. I
Ti
tie.
II.
Series: National
Endowment for the
Arts
Re
searc
h Division.
Research Division
repo
rt ;
12.
NX504.N33 1980
331.7
'617'
00973 80-12197
ISBN 0-89062-077-
5
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
PREFACE /page 2
LIST OF TABLES /page 3
LIST OF FIGURES /page 4
INTRODUCTION /page 5
CHAPTER I
AGE COMPOSITION AND CHARACTERISTICS 1970 AND 1976
Composition /page 7
Earnings /page 9
Employment /page 11
Weeks worked /page 11
Length of time in occupation /page 12
Education /page 13
Residence /page 14
CHAPTER II
SEX COMPOSITION AND CHARACTERISTICS 1970 AND 1976
Composition /page 15
Earnings /page 17
Employment /page 19
Weeks worked /page 19
Length of time in occupation /page 20
Education /page 21
Residence /page 21
CHAPTER II
EARNINGS 1970 AND 1976
Personal earnings /page 22
Income variations /page 24
Household earnings /page 40
Role of the artist as a household provider /page 43
REPORTS -IN THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS RESEARCH DIVISION SERIES /page 54
PREFACE
This study is the first in the Arts Endow-
ment's research report series that makes
comparisons between two periods, 1970 and
1976, and illustrates the kind of trend
data that will be developed when the 1980
Census data become available for analysis.
The data from the 1970 Census remains use-
ful as a baseline for comparison, and no
comparably detailed comparative analysis
of the several artist occupations covering
the important subjects of age, sex, and
earnings is available.
Data gathered by the Bureau of the Census
from two sources and then processed by a
research contractor for the National En-
dowment for the Arts is the basis of this
report: information from the 1970 Census
Public Use Sample and the 1976 Survey of
Income and Education (SIE) was condensed
by Data Use and Access Laboratories
(DUALabs) into two Artist Extract Files.
These files contain comparative data on
all professional, technical, and kindred
workers (grouped in tabular material as
all professional workers) as well as data
on people in the artist occupations. As
with all sample surveys, the Artist Extract
Files are estimates subject to sampling
variability. The analysis contained in
this report is by Diane Ellis under the
general direction of Jack Beresford, pres-
ident of DUALabs, a nonprofit research
organization specializing in the analysis
of census data. Unless noted otherwise,
this report is based on DUALabs' work.
The 1970 Census provided reliable statis-
tics for individual artist occupations.
Because of the smaller sample size of the
19 7 6 group, however, accurate information
was not available to the same degree of
detail. Material on earnings and number
of weeks worked was collected in 1970 and
1976 but is actually based on the years
1969 and 1975 respectively. An important
note for interpreting income data is that
differences exist in various conceptual,
collection, and processing procedures
used by the Bureau of the Census for the
1976 SIE and the 1970 Census. The 1976
SIE had a more extensive battery of in-
come questions, better trained interview-
ers, data frequently collected by personal
interviews, and new processing procedures
to impute missing or incomplete income
responses. For information more extensive
than the summaries provided here, consult
the following primary sources of tables,
figures, and text:
United States Bureau of the Census, Pub-
lic Use Samples of Basic Records from the
1970 Census: Description and Technical
Documentation , Washington, D.C.: 1972
and United States Bureau of the Census,
Technical Documentation: 1976 Survey of
Income and Education, Washington, D.C.:
1977; United States Bureau of the Census,
Census of the Population: 1970, Final
Report PC (2)-8B; Occupational Character-
istics, Final Report PC (2)-7A; Subject
Report PC (2)-8A, Sources and Structure
of Family Income, and Subject Report PC
(2)-8B Earnings by Occupation and Educa-
tion.
Also used were less traditional and
accessible source materials such as the
complete set of 19 70 Census computer tapes
It is intended that a similar set of in-
formation on artists will be made from the
1980 Census Public Use Sample. All this
material is available for replication or
study. Further information can be ob-
tained from Thomas F. Bradshaw, National
Endowment for the Arts, Research Division,
2401 E Street, Washington, DC 20506,
(202) 634-7103.
Research Division
National Endowment for the Arts
January 1980
LIST OF TABLES
1 Median age of performing artists and all artists 1970 and 1976 /page
2 Artists' occupations by age 1970 /page 7
3 Male, female, and all artists by age and sex 1970 and 1976 /page 9
4 Unemployment rates in artists' occupations by age 1970 /page 10
5 Median earnings in artists' occupations by age 1970 /page 10
6 Weeks worked by artists in 1969 by age /page 11
7 Percent of artists working forty or more weeks by occupation
and age 1970 /page 12
8 Proportion of artists with same occupation in 1965 and 1970 /page 12
9 Median school years completed in artists' occupations by age 1970 /page 13
10 National distribution of artists by age 1970 /page 13
11 Regional artist population by age 1970 /page 13
12 Artists' occupations by sex 1970 /page 17
13 Sex of artists and professional workers 1970 and 1976 /page 17
14 Performing artists and all artists by sex 1970 and 1976 /page 18
15 Median earnings of artists and all professional workers by sex
1970 and 1976 /page 18
16 Unemployment rates in artists' occupations by sex 197 0 /page 19
17 Distribution of weeks worked by sex 1969 /page 19
18 Proportion of artists working forty or more weeks by sex 1970 /page 19
19 Proportion of artists with same occupation in 1965 and 1970 by sex /page 20
20 Median school years completed in artists' occupations by sex 1970 /page 20
21 Median earnings of performing artists and all artists 1970 and 1976 /page 23
22 Median earnings in artists' occupations 1970 /page 23
23 Earnings in artists' occupations 1970 /page 24
24 Earnings of performing artists and all artists 1976 /page 26
25 Proportion of performing artists, all artists, and all professionals who
worked forty or more weeks 1970 and 1976 /page 28
26 Median earnings of artists by weeks worked 1970 and 1976 /page 28
27 Percentage increase of those who worked forty or more weeks in artists'
occupations 1970 /page 29
28 Artists* earnings by sex 1970 and 1976 '/page 30
29 Median earnings in artists' occupations by age and sex 1970 /page 32
30 Median earnings in artists' occupations by education and sex 1970 /page 34
31 Proportion of artists age 25-64 with some college education by
occupation 1970 /page 36
32 Artists' earnings by race 1970 and 1976 /page 37
33 Median earnings in artists' occupations by region 1970 /page 38
34 Median earnings in artists' occupations in three largest Standard
Metropolitan Statistical Areas 1970 /page 39
35 Median household earnings of artists by sex and weeks worked
1970 and 1976 /page 40
36 Artists' heads of household earnings by sex 1970 /page 41
37 Artists' heads of household earnings by sex 1976 /page 42
38 Median household earnings in artists' occupations 1970 /page 43
39 Artists' personal earnings as a proportion of median household earnings
by sex and weeks worked 1970 and 1976 /page 44
40 Chief household income recipients in artists' occupations by weeks
worked 196 9 /page 4 6
41 Chief family income recipients in artists' occupations by weeks
worked 1969 /page 48
42 Median earnings in artists' occupations of husband-wife families with
artist as head by size of family and number of earners 1970 /page 50
43 Husband-wife families in artists' occupations with artist as head and
two or more earners 1970 /page 52
44 1969 poverty status in artists' occupations of husband-wife families
with artist as head 1970 /page 53
LIST OF FIGURES
I Age composition of male and female artists 1970 /page 8
II Sex composition of artists' occupations 1970 /page 15
III Median earnings of artists and all professional workers
1970 and 1976 /page 22
IV Median earnings of male and female artists 1970 and 1976 /page 28
V Median personal earnings as a proportion of median household earnings
in artists' occupations 1970 /page 45
INTRODUCTION
were worth less than $5,400 by 1970
standards.
Certain fundamental characteristics of a
population can be studied to assess the
occupational conditions of a particular
group. Differences in social and economic
status in a community, for example, can
frequently be traced to a preponderance
of males or females, or the very young or
very old. The purpose of this report is
to examine a population of artists in
terms of age, sex, and earnings; and,
toward that end, the same characteristics
as recorded in 1970 and again in 1976
have been compared. The resulting infor-
mation tells a good deal about contempo-
rary artists and their lives and can also
be used to forecast the contribution of
the artist population to the future labor
supply and our national cultural life and
for planning to meet artists' needs. The
findings will also serve as benchmark data
from which the 1980 Census can establish
suggested trends.
The term artist as used in this report
derives from usage established by the
Bureau of the Census of the United States
Department of Commerce and includes
people in the following categories:
actors, architects, dancers, designers,
musicians and composers, painters and
sculptors, photographers, radio and tele-
vision announcers and a residual category
of artists, writers, and entertainers not
elsewhere classified. The term performing
artist encompasses actors, dancers,
musicians and composers, and radio and
television announcers. Artists are those
people at least 16 years old in the United
States experienced labor force; this
includes persons employed or self-employed
in any of the artist categories as well
as unemployed artists seeking work.
The aggregate of persons in the artist
occupations examined in this report in-
creased 50 percent during 1970-76, from
600,000 to 900,000. In this period, how-
ever there was virtually no increase in
artists' median earnings — which remained
at $7,900 in 1976, the same as in 1970.
Women artists' median earnings were at
about 36 percent of the median for male
artists in 1970, and remained at 36 per-
cent in 1976. The median for black art-
ists' earnings in fact dropped to 60 per-
cent in 1976.
Median earnings for professionals rose 28
percent to $11,300 between 1970 and 1976.
Considering that the consumer price index
rose 4 7 percent during this period, art-
ists' median earnings were significantly
worse in 1976 when earnings of $7,900
The lack of increase in artists' earnings
is partially explained by the fact that in
1976, there were about 50 percent more
artists than in 1970 while the number of
persons in all professional occupations
increased by only 23 percent. The in-
crease in the artist population created
an excess of artists to fill a limited
number of jobs. Furthermore those who
found jobs did so at the entry-level.
Much of the addition to the artist popula-
tion came from groups traditionally at the
low end of the national income scale. The
number of women in artist occupations in-
creased by nearly 80 percent while the
males in artists ' occupations increased
at only about half that rate.
In 1970 artists' personal earnings ac-
counted for 62 percent of their household
earnings, but by 1976 their contribution
to their households dropped to 44 percent.
Women artists were considerably more de-
pendent on other household members than
were male artists and accounted for only
one-fourth of their total household in-
come in both 1970 and 1976. In general,
the data in this report suggest that while
artists ' personal earnings are relatively
low compared with those of all profession-
al workers, artists tend to be members of
households which compare closely with
total household earnings of all profes-
sional workers. Although artists' median
personal earnings did not increase signi-
ficantly between 1970 and 1976, their
total household earnings rose by about 40
percent during this period.
As for composition of the population stu-
died by age and sex, it is made up of
relatively young people and it is pre-
dominantly male. From 1970 to 1976, it
became younger and the proportion of women
artists increased appreciably.
Beyond these observati
to note that the end o
period was marked by a
which the rate of arti
creased more than that
workers. The differen
reflects the increased
young persons, women,
ist occupations becaus
from other studies of
that unemployment rate
higher for these group
ons it is important
f the mid-decade
major recession in
st unemployment in-
of all professional
tial undoubtedly
proportion of
and blacks in art-
e it is well known
the labor force
s are generally
s .
Table 1
Median age of performing artists
and all artists 1970 and 1976
Median
age
Age
16-29
Age
30-59
60 and
over
Total
1970
Performing artists
30.6
-68,111
49%
60,717
43%
11,069
8%
139,897
All artists
37.0
198,980
33%
355,731
59%
48,777
8%
603,488
1976
Performing artists
27.2
151,965
61%
33,204
34%
12,258
5%
247,427
All artists
33.9
342,575
38%
488,136
54%
71,945
8%
902,656
CHAPTER I
AGE COMPOSITION AND CHARACTERISTICS
1970 AND 1976
Composition
In 1976, the median age of artists was 34.
This is 3 years younger than in 1970,
when the median age was 37 (see Table 1
and Table 2) . The trend toward a younger
age composition also exists in the gener-
al United States labor force. Among all
professional workers, the median age
dropped from 38 years in 1970 to 35.5
years in 1976. The 1976 labor force is
relatively young because of the large num-
ber of workers aged about 30 who make up
the post-war baby boom generation. As
this group grows older, the median age of
artists and other workers is likely to
rise once again.
The proportion of artists under age 30 in-
creased from 33 percent in 1970 to 38 per-
cent in 1976. The proportion of older
artists, those 60 years of age and over,
remained the same between 1970 and 1976,
at about 8 percent. This was similar to
the proportion of older people in all
professional occupations.
Certain artist occupations are relatively
youthful in comparison with other artist
occupations that tend to have a higher
proportion of older members. In general,
the performing arts have younger members
than other artist occupations. In 1976,
performing artists had a median age of 27
compared with a median age of 34 for all
artist occupations. Furthermore, about
61 percent of performing artists were
under the age of 30 in 1976 compared with
only 38 percent of all artists.
Data for 1970 show a similar age differ-
ence between performing artists and all
artists. For 1970 age data for specific
artist occupations are available, and
(as shown in Table 1) the median age
Table 2
Artists'occupations
by age 1970
Occupation
Median Age
age 16-29
Age
30-59
60 and
over
Total
Actors
35.0
5,317
38%
7,649
54%
1,174
8%
14,140
Architects
40.6
11,093
19%
40,415
71%
5,573
10%
57,081
Authors
41.5
5,195
20%
17,965
69%
2,844
11%
26,004
Dancers
24.7
5,432
78%
1,410
20%
82
1%
6,924
Designers
37.2
32,867
29%
71,838
64%
7,620
7%
112,325
Musicians/composers
31.8
45,019
47%
42,264
44%
9,254
10%
96,537
Painters/sculptors
38.0
33,798
31%
65,051
61%
8,627
8%
107,476
Photographers
39.4
19,788
30%
40,564
61%
5,608
9%
65,960
Radio-TV announcers
28.9
12,343
55%
9,394
42%
559
3%
22,296
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
8,360 27%
19,967 65%
2,327 8s
30,654
Other artists not else-
where classified
37.5
19,768 31% 39,214 61% 5,109 8!
64,091
All artists
37.0
198,980 33% 355,731 59% 48,777
8%
603,488
Figure I
Age composition of
male and female artists
1970
Males
Age
Females
1.6%
70+
2.4%
2.0%
65-69
2.7%
4.1%
60-64
4.1%
6.0%
55-59
5.7%
7.6%
50-54
7.5%
10.2%
45-49
9.3%
11.8%
40-44
11.4%
11.9%
35-39
9.6%
13.3%
30-34
10.4%
15.0%
25-29
13.5%
12.3%
20-24
17.7%
4.3%
16-19
5.7%
Table 3 Male, female, and
all artists by age and sex
1970 and 1976
1970 Median Age Age 60 and Total
age 16-29 30-59 over
Male
37.2
140,011
32%
269,796
61%
34,059
8%
443,866
Female
36.4
58,969
37%
85,935
54%
14,718
9%
159,622
All artists
37.0
198,980
33%
355,731
59%
48,777
8%
603,488
1976
Male
34.0
230,413
37%
338,205
55%
50,694
8%
619,312
Female
33.7
112,162
40%
149,931
53%
21,251
7%
283,344
All artists
33.9
342,575
38%
488,136
54%
71,945
8%
902,656
for artists is lower in all performing
artist occupations than it is in any of
the other artist occupations. Authors
tend to be older than any other type of
artist, averaging more than 41 years.
In the occupations of dancer and radio-
television announcer, more workers are
under the age of 30 than over 30. Dancers
are the youngest of all artists, with a
median age just under 25.
In 1976 as well as in 1970 median ages of
female artists tend to be a few months
younger than male artists (see Table 3) .
In examining five-year age intervals for
197 0, women were most likely to be in the
age 20-24 group, while men were most
likely to be in the age 25-29 group. As
illustrated in the age pyramid in Figure I
women artists also show a decline in
numbers in the age 3 0-39 group and an in-
crease in number at ages 40-44. One may
hypothesize that this is a result of
women artists leaving the labor force to
bear and raise children and subsequently
reentering the labor force.
Earnings
The effects of age on earnings varied
somewhat by artist occupation. In 1970,
Table 4
Unemployment rates in
artists' occupations
by age 1970
Table 5
Median earnings in
artists' occupations
by age 1970
Occupation
Age
16-29
30 and
over
Occupation
Age
16-29
30 and
over
Actors
28.8%
33.7%
Architects
2.5%
1.0%
Authors
4.0%
4.0%
Dancers
12.2%
21.4%
Designers
3.8%
3.0%
Musicians/composers
7.5%
5.4%
Painters/sculptors
5.1-%
3.0%
Photographers
4.9%
1.8%
Radio-TV announcers
3.1%
1.6%
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
Other artists not else-
where classified
All artists
1.6%
6.1!
5.9%
/ ^
5.0!
3.8%
Actors
Architects
Authors
Dancers
Designers
Photographers
Radio-TV announcers
$2,900 $ 7,300
$8,500 $14,100
All artists
$5,900 $ 9,900
$2,900 $ 5,700
$7,400 $10,900
Musicians/composers
$1,800
$ 4,900
Painters/sculptors
$4,700
$ 8,600
$5,200 $ 9,100
$4,300 $10,300
Teachers of art, drama, $4,500 $10,600
and music (higher edu-
cation)
Other artists not else- $4,700 $ 9,300
where classified
$4,400 $ 9,800
10
young artists could expect to find earn-
ings more comparable to the "30 and over"
artist group if they had occupations as
designers, authors, or architects. But
even in these occupations, earnings for
people under 30 were only about two-thirds
of earnings for those 30 and over. Young
artists could find the lowest comparable
earnings if they were musicians and com-
posers, or actors, for all of whom 1970
earnings were extremely low.
Artists who are under the age of 3 0 are
likley to earn less than artists age 30
and over. As shown in Table 5, artists
under age 30 earned less than half the
median earnings of artists age 30 and
over in 1970.
Table 6
Weeks worked by artists
in 1969 by age
Weeks worked
Age
16-29
30 and
over
13 or
less
14.4%
4.7%
14-39
23.0%
10.4%
40-49
17.0%
15.2%
50-52
45.6%
69.7%
Employment
Artists under age 30 were more likely to
be unemployed in 1970 than artists age 30
and over (see Table 4) . At nearly 6
percent, artists under age 3 0 had an unem-
ployment rate one and one-half times the
rate of artists 30 and over. Photograph-
ers, architects, and higher education
teachers of art, drama, and music who
were under 30 had unemployment rates that
were more than double the rates of persons
30 and over in these occupations.
For actors and dancers these findings are
reversed. Actors and dancers were less
likely to be unemployed if they were under
30 than if they were 30 or over. For
both age groups, actors and dancers had
much higher unemployment rates than other
artist occupations. Among older actors
and dancers, however, unemployment was
more severe than it was for the younger
ones. In the case of dancers, their
careers are coming to an end or often
ended at age 30 because of the physical
demands of their occupation. As noted
earlier, their median age is less than 25.
Weeks worked
The data tabula
that artists un
weeks per year
The table shows
artists under a
less in 1969 an
worked 40 weeks
year, 85 percen
over worked at
ted in Table 6 demonstrate
der age 30 worked fewer
than artists 30 and over.
that nearly 15 percent of
ge 30 worked 13 weeks or
d only about two-thirds
or more. During the same
t of artists age 30 and
least 40 weeks.
11
Table 7
Percent of artists working
forty or more weeks by
occupation and age 1970
Table 8
Proportion of artists with
same occupation in
1965 and 1970
Occupation
Age
16-29
30 and
over
Occupation
Age
16-29
30 and
over
Actors
35%
43%
Architects
74%
95%
Authors
65%
85%
Dancers
42%
60%
Designers
79%
92%
Musicians/composers
44%
71%
Painters/sculptors
68%
85%
Photographers
72%
91%
Radio-TV announcers
72%
92%
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
59%
Other artists not else-
where classified
63%
All artists
63%
76%
82%
85%
Actors
16.0%
62.7%
Architects
17.0%
75.1%
Authors
6.7%
53.9%
Dancers
8.9%
42.8%
Designers
18.6%
62.5%
Musicians/composers
20.2%
67.3%
Painters/sculptors
. 18.0%
69.0%
Photographers
20.1%
73.0%
Radio-TV announcers
22 .6%
68.4%
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
8.5s.
Other artists not else-
where classified
14.4%
44.1%
46.2%
All artists
17.7%
63.8%
Work levels vary con
occupation, but in e
artists consistently
year than do artists
1970, architects who
weeks had the highes
percent, but only 74
under age 30 worked
for other artist occ
Table 7.
siderably by artist
ach occupation young
work fewer weeks per
age 30 and over. In
worked 40 or more
t percentage at 91
percent of architects
at that level. Data
upations are shown in
Length of time in occupation
The 1970 Census obtained some information
on occupation five years earlier as well
as on current occupation. Among artists,
about half indicated they had the same
occupation in both 1965 and 1970. This
provides a rough measure of an artist's
experience and establishment in the occu-
pation, which can be equated with such
other status measures as employment and
earnings.
Age of the artist is an important variable
in determining length of time in an occu-
pation. Census data show that older
artists are most likely to be in the same
occupation over a five-year period. For
artists age 30 and over, 64 percent had
the same occupation in 1965 and 1970 (see
Table 8) . For artists under age 30, only
18 percent had the same occupation (how-
ever, most artists are entering their
occupation at this age) .
There are some major differences among
younger and older artists for the propor-
tion that remain in their individual oc-
cupations at least five years. For
example, young radio-TV announcers under
age 30 are more than three times as likely
as authors in the same age group to have
the same occupation. Among older artists,
12
Table 9
Median school years completed
in artists' occupations by age
1970
Table 10
National distribution
of artists by age
1970
Occupation
Years of school
Age
16-29
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
17.7
30 and
over
Actors
14.5
14.1
Architects
17.3
17.0
Authors
16.2
16.0
Dancers
12.4
12.4
Designers
14.7
14.0
Musicians/composers
13.0
13.0
Painters/sculptors
14.3
13.5
Photographers
12.9
12.6
Radio-TV announcers
13.6
14.1
18.2
Other artists not else-
where classified
13.5
14.0
All artists
14.0
14.2
Region
Age
16-29
30 and
over
Northeast
18%
33%
North Central
17%
21%
West
47%
24%
South
18%
22%
Table 11
Regional artist
population by age 1970
Region
Age
16-29
3 0 and
over
Northeast •
22%
78%
North Central
30%
70%
South
30%
70%
West
51%
49%
United States
33%
67%
architects are the most likely to have
been in the same occupation in 1965 as
1970 and dancers are the least likely.
Education
There is little difference in educational
attainment for artists of different age
groups. Table 9 shows that in 1970 art-
ists under age 30 had completed an average
of 14 years of schooling. This is equiva-
lent to the completion of high school plus
2 years of college. For artists age 30
and over, educational attainment was near-
ly the same, at 14.2 years.
In certain occupations, educational attain-
ment is greater for young artists than it
is for artists 30 and over. The 1970 data
show that differences in educational at-
tainment were greatest in the occupations
of painter/sculptor and designer, where
younger artists had more years of educa-
tion than artists 30 and over. The per-
centage of artists who attended college
is about the same for artists under 30 and
for those 30 and over, at about 60 percent,
13
Residence
The 1970 data show a marked tendency for
young artists to live in the western
region of the United States. This area
includes the states of California, Oregon,
Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming,
Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexi-
co, Alaska, and Hawaii. As shown in Table
10 nearly half (47 percent) of all artists
under the age of 30 lived in the West
compared with 24 percent of artists age
30 and over who lived there.
Artists over the age of 30 were more even-
ly distributed around the country in 1970
than were artists under 30. Among artists
age 30 and over, more lived in New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Vermont, and Maine than in any other re-
gion. One-third of artists age 30 and
over lived in the Northeast in 19 70 com-
pared with only 18 percent of younger
artists .
The South and North Central regions had
similar proportions of artists under and
over 30, at about 20 percent for each
group in each region.
Artists under the age of 30 made up 3 3
percent of all United States artists in
1970. This proportion varies in the
different regions of the country as shown
in Table 11. The Northeast region had the
smallest proportion of artists under age
30 with only 22 percent of artists in this
age group. In contrast, in the West the
artist population is almost equally
divided between those under age 3 0 and
those over age 30. The South and North
Central regions are close to the national
average, with 30 percent of their artists
under age 30.
14
CHAPTER II
SEX COMPOSITION AND CHARACTERISTICS
1970 AND 1976
proportion of women in the arts has only
grown from 26 percent of the 600,000
artists in 1970 to 31 percent of the
900,000 artists 1976 whereas women con-
stitute 43 percent of all professional
workers in 1976.
Composition
Although there is considerable variation
in the relative representation of men and
women in the different artist occupations
(see Table 12) , the proportion of men is
much higher in the total of artist occupa-
tions than it is among all professional
occupations (see Table 13). In 1976, the
artist occupations were 69 percent male
compared with 5 7 percent male in all pro-
fessional occupations. Between 19 70 and
1976 the number of women artists increased
by over 75 percent while the number of
male artists increased by 40 percent.
However, the proportion of women artists
remains relatively low when compared with
women in all professional occupations.
Despite their numerical increase, the
In 1970 there were large differences in
the sex composition of specific artist
occupations . Dance was the only occupa-
tion in which there were more women (82
percent) than men. In contrast, women
made up only 4 percent of the architect
labor force and 6 percent of radio-TV
announcers. This means that for every fe-
male architect, there were 25 male archi-
tects; for every female announcer, there
were 14 male announcers; and for every
female photographer, there were 6 male
photographers. Figure II compares the
sex composition of all artist occupations
in 1970. Minorities and Women in the
Arts; 1970, National Endowment for the
Arts, Research Division Report #7 (see
list at the back of this report) , pro-
vides more detailed information.
Figure II
Sex composition of
artists' occupations 1970
Females Males
Dancers
Actors
Painters/sculptors
Teachers of art, drama
and music (higher
education)
Musicians/composers
Authors
Designers
Photographers
Radio-TV announcers
Architects
82%
18%
42%
37%
58%
63%
65%
35%
34%
31%
66%
69%
24%
76%
14%
86%
6%
4%
94%
96%
15
Table 12
Artists' occupations
by sex 1970
Occupation
Male
Female
Total
Actors
8,213
58%
5,927
42%
14,140
Architects
54,948
96%
2,133
4%
57,081
Authors
18,069
69%
7,935
31%
26,004
Dancers
1,271
18%
5,653
82%
6,924
Designers
85,243
76%
27,082
24%
112,325
Musicians/c
:omposers
63,677
66%
32,860
34%
96,537
Painters/sculptors
67,917
63%
39,559
37%
107,476
Photographers
56,526
86%
9,434
14%
65,960
Radio-TV announcers
20,873
94%
1,423
6%
22,296
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
19,992
65%
10,662
35'-
30,654
Other artists not else-
where classified
47,137
74%
16,954
26%
64,091
All artists
443,866
' 74%
159,622
26%
603,488
Table 13
Sex of artists and
professional workers
1970 and 1976
Occupation
1970
Number
Percent
male
Percent
female
1976
Number
Percent Percent
male female
All artists
603,000
74%
26%
903,000
69%
31%
All professional
workers
11,667,000
60%
40%
14,356,000
57%
43%
16
(Statistics in Report #7 differ for a fig-
ure similar to Figure II because the labor
reserve as well as the labor force was
included. )
Increases in the proportion of women art-
ists between 1970 and 1976 seem to be
concentrated in the nonperf orming artist
occupations. In the performing arts, the
proportion of women declined from 3 3 per-
cent in 1970 to 29 percent in 1976 (see
Table 14.) Estimates for 1976 indicate
that the occupations in which women have
increased their participation include
painter and sculptor, author, and teacher
of art, drama, and music in higher educa-
tion. The data indicate a decline in the
proportion of women for the other artist
occupations.
In 1970, there was little variation in
the sex composition of artists in differ-
ent age groups. (There is, of course, con-
siderable variation in the sex composition
within the individual artist occupations.)
About two-thirds of each age group were
male and one-third female in 1970. Art-
ists under age 30 were about 3 3 percent
female, compared with 31 percent female
among artists age 30 and over.
Earnings
In 1970, female artists had median earn-
ings of $3,400 per year while male artists
had median earnings of $9,500 per year.
This means that female artists as a group
earned only 36 percent of the earnings of
male artists. The 1976 earnings data show
an increase in median earnings to $4,000
for women and $10,900 for men. This rep-
resents virtually no change over the six-
year period in the proportional earnings
gap between male and female artists.
Low median earnings for women are not
unique to the artist occupations (see
Table 15) . Data for all professional
workers in 1970 show that women profes-
sionals had median earnings that were 57
percent of the median earnings of male
professionals. Like the artist popula-
tion, no significant reduction in the
male-female proportional earnings gap
occurred among all professional workers
from 1970 to 1976.
Lower earnings for women are partially
explained by higher unemployment rates
and less time worked during the year than
men. These differences are explained in
the following sections.
17
Table 14
Performing artists
and all artists by sex
1970 and 1976
Male
Female
Total
1970
Performing artists
94,034
67%
45,863
33%
139,897
All artists
443,866
74%
159,622
26%
603,488
1976
Performing artists
175,069
71%
72,358
29%
247,427
All artists
619,312
69%
283,344
31%
902,656
Table 15
Median earnings of artists
and all professional workers
by sex 1970 and 1976
1970
1976
Male
Female
Male
Female
All artists
$ 9,500
$3,400
$10,900
$4,000
All professional
workers
$10,600
$6,000
$14,500
$8,400
18
Table 16
Unemployment rates in
artists' occupations
by sex 1970
Table 18
Proportion of artists
working forty or more
weeks by sex 1970
Occupation
Male
Female
Actors
32.2%
35.0%
Architects
1.4%
2.0%
Authors
4.1%
4.1%
Dancers
20.9%
13.3%
Designers
2.4%
5.5%
Musicians/c
omposers
8.1%
4.2%
Painters/sculptors
2.9%
5.3%
Photographe
rs
2.4%
6.7%
Radio-TV announcers
2.5%
5.6%
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
7%
1.3%
cation)
Other artists not else-
where classified
4.7%
6.5%
All artists
4.0%
6.3%
Occupation
Male
Female
Actors
45%
34%
Architects
91%
88%
Authors
86%
70%
Dancers
59%
43%
Designers
93%
72%
Musicians/composers
61%
54%
Painters/sculptors
88%
66%
Photographers
88%
68%
Radio-TV announcers
82%
67%
Teachers of art, drama,
and music, (higher edu-
cation)
80%
55%
Other artists not else-
where classified..
82%
62%
All artists
83%
62%
Table 17
Distribution of
weeks worked
by sex 1969
Weeks
worked
Male
Female
13 or
less
5.4%
14.8%
14-39
11.3%
23.4%
40-49
14.8%
18.8%
50-52
68.6%
43.1%
Total
100.1%
100.1%
Employment
Women artists have more difficulty finding
employment than male artists (see Table
16) . In 19 70, the unemployment rate for
female artists was 6 . 3 percent compared
with 4 percent for male artists.
Unemployment rates for women were higher
than the rates for men in most artist
occupations. The exceptions were the oc-
cupations of musicians/composers and dan-
cers, where men had higher unemployment
rates. Among authors, unemployment rates
were the same for both sexes.
Weeks worked
Women artists tend to average fewer work
weeks during the year than male artists.
In 1970, 62 percent of female artists
worked 40 or more weeks compared with 83
percent of male artists. Less than half
of all women artists worked the full year
(50-52 weeks), as shown in Table 17, while
more than two-thirds of male artists
worked this amount.
19
Table 19
Proportion of artists with
same occupation in
1965 and 1970 by sex
Table 20
Median school years
completed in artists'
occupations by sex 1970
Occupation
Male
Female Occupation
Years of school
completed
Male
Female
Actors
47.5%
42.0%
Architects
64.4%
54.8%
Authors
46.5%
41.6%
Dancers
20.5%
15.2%
Designers
52.5%
42.0%
Musicians/composers
45.3%
45.8%
Painters/sculptors
62.3%
38.7%
Photographers
59.2%
41.4%
Radio-TV announcers
44.0%
43.5%
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
36.7%
Other artists not else-
where classified
39.0%
All artists
52.4%
30.2%
29.1%
39.0%
Actors
1.4.5 i
13.8
Architects
17.0
17.0
Authors
15.9
16.2
Dancers
12.9
12.3
Designers
14.1
13.7
Musicians/composers
12.9
13.6
Painters/sculptors
13.7
13.9
Photographers
12.7
12.6
Radio-TV announcers
13.8
13.4
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
Other artists not else-
where classified
All artists
17 +
14.0
14.2
17 +
13.5
14.0
In all artist occupations, a higher pro-
portion of males than females worked 40
or more weeks during the year. Among
architects, women averaged more weeks
worked in 1970 than in any other artist
occupation. As a result, architects had
the smallest difference in male-female
work levels. In 1970, 91 percent of male
architects worked 4 0 or more weeks com-
pared with 88 percent of female archi-
tects. Table 18 shows the percentage of
artists in each occupation who worked 40
or more weeks.
Length of time in occupation
Although nearly half of all artists indi-
cated they were in the same occupation in
both 1965 and 1970 the proportion for men
was higher than women with 52 percent
of males as compared with 39 percent of
20
females reporting the same occupation in
both years (see Table 19) .
The occupations of painter/sculptor and
photographer showed the largest differ-
ences between males and females in the
proportion who reported being in those
occupations for both time periods — 6 2 per-
cent of male painters and sculptors com-
pared with 39 percent of female painters
and sculptors. Among photographers, 59
percent of males and 41 percent of females
reported being in the same occupation in
1965 and 1970. The occupations of musi-
cian/composer and radio-TV announcer were
the only ones in which the same proportion
of men and women reported the same occupa-
tions in 1965 and 1970.
Education
The level of educational attainment is
very similar for male and female artists.
In 1970, male artists averaged 14.2 years
of completed schooling, and female artists
averaged 14.0 years. This is equivalent
to the completion of high school plus two
years of college. As shown in Table 20,
male and female artists had similar lev-
els of education in all of the artist oc-
cupations .
Residence
Data on artists employed in 1970 showed
no differences in geographic distribution
of male and female artists in the four
major regions of the United States. About
31 percent of each sex reside in the North-
east; 24 percent in the North Central; 2 3
percent in the South; and 22 percent in
the West. For a detailed discussion of
the geographic distribution of the United
States artist population, see Where Art-
ists Live; 1970, National Endowment for
the Arts, Research Division Report #5
(see list at the back of this report) .
21
CHAPTER III
EARNINGS 1970 AND 1976
Personal earnings
Comparing income statistics in the artist
population shows differences in earnings
among artists of various occupations,
ages, educational backgrounds, and re-
gions, as well as between males and fe-
males and blacks and whites. Household
earnings for artists are also examined
because these data are useful in under-
standing the extent of financial depend-
ence of artists on other members of their
households .
Earnings data used in this report were
collected in 1970 and 1976. The 1976 data
provide some understanding of earning
trends, the most important of which is
that earnings for artists are not in-
creasing as much as earnings for the rest
of the American workforce. The earnings
picture for artists in 1976 appears rela-
tively worse than that of 1970. Compari-
sons of income estimates from the 1976 SIE
and the 1970 Census are contained through-
out this report. When comparing earnings
data from these two sources, it should be
remembered that some differences exist in
conceptual, collection, and processing
procedures used by the Bureau of the
Census for the 1970 Census and the SIE.
Most important, the 1976 SIE had a more
extensive battery of income questions,
better trained interviewers, nearly all
data were obtained by personal interviews,
and new processing procedures were used
to impute missing or incomplete income
responses. The numbers of artists in 1970
as shown in the tables in this chapter
were derived from the 1970 Census Public
Use Sample and vary slightly from the
estimates shown in Chapters I and II which
are based on Occupational Characteristics,
Census of Population: 1970 Final Report
PC(2)-7A.
Artists' earnings in 1970 and 1976 were
relatively low among all professional
workers. In 1970, median earnings were
$7,900 (see Table 21). This compares with
$8,800 for all professional workers (from
the 1970 Census) .
From 1970 to 1976 there was no increase
in artists' median earnings, which re-
mained at $7,900 in 1976. (Median earnings
figures are rounded to the nearest hundred
dollars. A more precise measure of change
in median earnings between 1970 and 1976
Figure
Median earnings of artists and
all professional workers
1970 and 1976
Artists
All professionals
1970
1976
1970
1976
$7,900
$7,900
$8,800
$11,300
22
Table 21
Median earnings of performing
artists and all artists
1970 and 1976
1970
1976
Median
earnings
Median
earnings
Performing artists
138,057
$3,700
247,427
$3,700
All artists
599,394
$7,900
902,656
$7,900
is not presented because the figures are
estimates subject to sampling variability) .
In comparison to the unchanged figure for
artists, median earnings for all profes-
sional workers rose to $11,300 — a 28 per-
cent increase. Figure III illustrates
this comparison. Considering that the
consumer price index rose by 47 percent
during this period, as reported by the
U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statitistics , the artist population's
median earnings were significantly worse
in 1976 than in 1970. Artists' median
1976 earnings of $7,900 were worth less
than $5,400 by 1970 standards.
The data indicate artists are not high
earners. Fifty-eight percent of artists
earned less than $10,000 in 1976, compared
with 42 percent of all professional
workers. Only about 6 percent of all art-
ists earned $25,000 or more.
Table 22
The absence
earnings be
plained by
depressed s
nomy during
ists ' earni
during 1970
earning dec
the economy
of change in artists' median
tween 197 0 and 197 6 may be ex-
several factors. One is the
tate of the United States eco-
1973-75. Any gains in art-
ngs which may have taken place
-7 3 may have been offset by
reases which were evident in
during the 1973-75 recession.
Lack of growth in artists' earnings is
also due to the changing composition of
the artist population during 1970-76.
Particularly significant is the dramatic
increase in the total number of persons
with occupations in the arts (see Table
1) . In 19 76 there were about 50 percent
more artists than in 1970, increasing
from about 600,000 to more than 900,000.
Median earnings in
artists' occupations
1970
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
Actors
$ 5,900
Architects
$12,800
Authors
$ 8,900
Dancers
$ 3,300
Designers
$10,100
Musicians/composers
$ 3,000
Painters/sculptors
$ 7,000
Photographers
$ 7,800
Radio-TV announcers
$ 7,100
$ 9,100
Other artists not else-
where classified
$ 7,700
All artists
$ 7,900
23
During this period, the number of persons
in all types of professional occupations
increased by only 23 percent. Further-
more, the rate of increase for artists
was greater among women than men. The
number of women in artist occupations in-
creased by nearly 80 percent, while the
number of male artists increased at half
that rate. The number of black artists
more than doubled during this period.
The performing artist occupations grew at
a faster rate than other artist occupa-
tions, increasing by nearly 80 percent.
This overall increase in the size of the
artist population created greater numbers
of artists to fill a limited number of
jobs and a greater proportion who filled
low-paying, entry level jobs. The
large increases in the number of female
and black artists further deflated over-
all earnings because of the low wages
received by these groups.
Income variations
There is a wide range of actual earnings
in the different artist occupations (see
Table 22) . Certain artists have more
difficulty than others in finding employ-
ment and maintaining an adequate income
level. Such factors as age and experience
and whether the artist is male or female
all influence the earning level, and the
type of occupation is naturally a major
differentiating item. The reasons for
Table 23
Earnings in artists'
occupations 1970
Earnings
Architects
Teachers of
Actors
Authors
Dancers
Designers
art , drama ,
and music
(higher ed-
*
ucation)
Loss
399
0
0
234
0
4 32
$0-1,999
2,498
4,001
3,262
4,709
2
,373
8,513
$2,000-2,999
1,264
1,165
1,200
1,137
698
3,567
$3,000-3,999
1,340
1,435
961
897
700
4,169
$4,000-4,999
1,371
997
666
900
502
4,064
$5,000-5,999
1,500
1,269
867
1,199
566
5,696
$6,000-6,999
1,569
1,439
1,173
96 8
535
4,528
$7,000-7,999
1,637
1,873
898
1,497
264
7,160
$8,000-8,999
2,828
2,265
567
1,899
166
7,872
$9,000-9,999
2,802
1,934
367
1,135
202
8,067
$10,000-10,999
4,200
3,098
536
2,331
168
12,072
$11,000-11,999
3,202
1,929
302
1,669
167
7,049
$12,000-12,999
4,630
1,865
569
1,425
33
7,941
$13,000-13,999
3,298
1,366
167
967
67
4,987
$14,000-14,999
3,003
1,297
167
734
33
4,705
$15,000-15,999
3,302
867
500
665
0
4,872
$16,000-16,999
1,731
568
67
670
0
2,433
$17,000-24,999.
8,804
2,328
700
1,967
133
8,831
$25, 000 or more
7,621
.332
832
1,403
0
3,697
Total
56,639
30,628
13,801
26,406
6
,607
110,565
Median earnings
$12,800
$ 9,140
$ 5,936
$ 8,875
$3
,332
$10,100
24
income differences among artists are
numerous and interrelated, but some pat-
terns emerge. This section examines in-
come variations among artists and the
reasons for these differences.
Occupation
Occupation is a major factor determining
how much an artist earns. In general,
performing artists earn considerably less
than other artists. Performing artists
in each of the actor, dancer, musician/
composer, and radio-TV announcer occupa-
tions earned below the median income for
all artists in 1970. As a group, perform-
ing artists had median earnings of only
$3,700 in 1970. Six years later, in 1976,
their median earnings remained the same.
In specific artist occupations, 1970 data
show architects as the highest earners
with median incomes of $12,800 per year
(see Table 23) . Other artist occupations
with median earnings better than the
average were designers, teachers of art,
drama, and music in higher education, and
authors. Artists with the lowest earnings
were musicians/composers and dancers.
There may be many reasons why earnings
differ from one artist occupation to the
next. The employment market for artists
is a factor not examined here. Each occu-
pation is examined by age, sex, race, and
educational background as well as the
geographic distribution of the occupation.
These factors are summarized in the para-
graphs which follow for each artist
occupation. Only 1970 data and figures
are considered in this occupational
Musicians/
composers
Painters/
sculptors
Photo-
graphers
Radio-TV
announcers
Other art-
ists not
elsewhere
classified
Total
168
1,065
469
0
268
3,035
39,858
19,367
8,978
4,501
11,718
110,378
8,091
5,938
2,404
1,233
3,143
29,840
7,456
6,781
3,597
1,167
2,965
31,468
4,905
6,531
3,303
1,038
3,535
27,812
5,296
7,035
4,665
1,597
4,078
33,768
5,111
6,940
5,263
1,397
3,530
32,453
4,171
3,756
2,231
3,294
1,405
1,536
730
95,548
$ 2,958
6,655
5,599
1,767
3,630
35,151
7,134
5,218
1,402
4,208
37,315
6,032
5,300
1,201
4,311
33,582
7,171
4,871
1,565
4,890
44,196
3,393
3,035
830
2,998
25,979
4,802
3,492
697
3,066
30,056
2,829
1,866
700
1,704
18,591
732
2,099
998
199
1,605
15,572
1,065
2,967
1,832
498
1,465
18,033
467
1,304
434
401
798
8,873
2,770
6,059
2,701
1,070,
3,165
38,528
2,506
3,162
2,003
838
2,730
24,764
107,264
$ 6,996
66,028
$ 7,774
22,101
$ 7,067
63,807
$ 7,735
599,394
$ ;7,880
25
Table 24
Earnings of
performing artists
and all artists
1976
Earnings
Performing
artists
All
artists
Loss
907
13,431
$0-1,999
78,998
183,309
$2,000-2,999
33,989
72,568
$3,000-3,999
13,765
40,450
$4,000-4,999
17,666
37,415
$5,000-5,999
10,722
30,611
$6,000-6,999
16,780
43,411
$7,000-7,999
5,729
32,187
$8,000-8,999
11,721
43,030
$9,000-9,999
2,870
27,874
$10,000-10,999
5,422
34,827
$11,000-11,999
2,748
29,945
$12,000-12,999
6,911
38,792
$13,000-13,999
3,697
33,168
$14,000-14,999
4,335
24,045
$15,000-15,999
12,034
38,286
$16,000-16,999
1,179
24,946
$17,000-17,999
5,685
24,611
$18,000-18,999
373
11,207
$19,000-19,999
437
10,094
$20,000-24,999
1,863
53,209
$25,000+
9,596
55,240
Total
247,427
902,656
Median earnings
$3,713
$7,936
summary because data on individual occu-
pations are not available from the SIE
survey. For comparison of performing
artists ' earnings to the total artist
population in 1976, see Table 24.
Actors , with median annual earnings of
$5,900 in 1970, earned less than most other
artists. Their low earnings are due in
part to their average work level of only
34 weeks per year--fewer weeks worked a
year than artists in any other occupation.
Actors who worked 40 or more weeks a year
increased their median earnings by nearly
half, to $8,700. The disparity in income
between male and female artists was less
among actors than most other artists; fe-
male actors earned 74 percent of the earn-
ings of male actors. As with other artists,
median earnings for actors peaked in the
35-54 age group. Actors living in the
western United States had higher median
earnings than those living in other regions
of the United States.
Architects had the highest median earnings
of any artist occupation, at $12,800 in
1970. Those who worked 40 or more weeks
per year earned $13,400. Architects are
amonq the best educated of all artists.
Earnings were highest in the 35-54 age
group. Like other artist occupations,
female architects earned about half as
much as male architects. Earnings of
architects tend to be uniform across the
regions of the nation. However, there
are differences for cities; the average
New York City architect earned about
$1,300 more than architects in Los
Angeles or Chicago in 1970.
Teachers of art, drama, and music in high-
er education earned $9,100, which is high-
er than the median earnings for most other
artist occupations. Only architects and
designers earned more. Because of the
nine-month academic year, teachers of art,
drama, and music in higher education
worked fewer weeks per year than most
other types of artists. Their education
is greater than that of other artist occu-
pational groups. Women in the occupation
earned only half as much as men. Unlike
other artist occupations, median earnings
for higher education teachers were highest
in the oldest age group, 55-64. They
earned more in the West and Northeast re-
gions of the country than in the South or
Central regions. In Los Angeles, they
earned $2,00 0 more per year than in New
York City or Chicago.
26
Authors earn more than the average artist
and have relatively high work levels.
Their median earnings were $8,900 per year,
and increased to $10,200 for those work-
ing 4 0 or more weeks during the year.
Women authors earned half of what male
authors earned. Authors tend to be older
than other types of artists and better
educated than most. There is little dif-
ference in authors ' median earnings from
one region of the country to another
although authors in the southern United
States earned slightly more than those
elsewhere, and Los Angeles had slightly
better paid authors than New York or
Chicago.
Dancers are among the lowest paid of all
artists--only musicians earned less in
19 70. Median earnings for dancers were
$3,300. Their low earnings correlate with
their low work levels (averaging 38 weeks
per year) and the predominance of women
in the occupation. It is the only artist
occupation which has a majority of women
(82 percent) . It is also the artist oc-
cupation with the smallest gap in median
earnings between men and women. However,
female dancers still earn 12 percent less
than male dancers. Also correlating with
low median earnings are low educational
levels (only 22 percent of dancers at-
tended college) and youth (median age is
25) . Median earnings for dancers are
uniformly low across the country, but
lower in the South than elsewhere. New
York City dancers have higher median earn-
ings than those in Los Angeles or Chicago.
Designers are among the best paid of all
types of artists, with median earnings of
$10,100. Only architects earned more in
1970. Designers have high work levels,
averaging more than 5 0 weeks per year.
Their educational level is about average
for artists. Like other artist occupa-
tions, their median earnings peak in the
35-54 age group, and women in the occupa-
tion earn exactly half what male designers
earn. Earnings are highest in the north-
ern regions of the United States, and are
similar among the metropolitan centers of
New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Musicians/ composers had the lowest median
earnings of any artist occupation, aver-
aging about $3,000 per year. Musicians
who worked 4 0 or more weeks per year
were able to increase their median earn-
ings to $5,200. Like other performing
artists, musicians have relatively low
work levels, averaging 45 weeks. Their
earnings tend to rise with age and edu-
cation, but both are relatively low.
Women musicians have extremely low medi-
an earnings, less than one-third of male
musicians' median earnings. Earnings for
musicians are low throughout the country
but are slightly higher in the West and
East than in the central or southern
parts of the country.
Painters/sculptors follow a typical earn-
ing pattern for artists. They had median
earnings of $7,000 a year, but increased
their earnings to $8,400 for those work-
ing 40 or more weeks a year. Their earn-
ings tend to increase with education and
peak in the 35-54 age group. Women in
the occupation earn only 4 2 percent of
men in the occupation. Median earnings
for painters and sculptors are higher in
the northern regions than in the South or
West. New York City and Chicago provide
better earnings than Los Angeles.
Photographers ' median earnings were
$7,800, which is average for the artist
occupations. Their work levels are rela-
tively high. The occupation is predomi-
nantly male, with women earning less than
half of male photographers. Although
their educational level is relatively low
(only 36 percent had any college) , it does
not seem to affect their earnings. Photo-
graphers tend to earn about the same, re-
gardless of educational attainment. Earn-
ings are highest in the 35-54 age group.
Across the major regions of the country
(see Table 34), photographers' median
earnings are very uniform, although they
earned slightly more in Chicago than in
New York or Los Angeles.
Radio-TV announcers had median earnings
of $7,100, which was about average for
artists. Their work levels are relatively
high. The occupation is overwhelmingly
male (94 percent) and women in the occu-
pation earn only 42 percent of males.
Radio-TV announcers are relatively young
(median age is 29) . As in other artist
occupations, their earnings peak in the
35-54 age group. Educational attainment
is about average for these artists (63 per-
cent attended college) , and earnings in the
occupation tend to correlate with educa-
tion. The Northeast region of the coun-
try provides better median earnings for
radio-TV announcers than any other region;
the South provides the lowest. Los
Angeles has considerably better earnings
for this occupation than either Chicago
or New York.
Weeks worked
The amount of time artists spend on in-
come-producing work is an important factor
in determining their earning level. For
example, in the performing arts occupa-
tions , where employment periods are fre-
quently short, earnings were less than
one-half for all artists. In 1970 and
1976, only about 60 percent of performing
27
Table 25
Proportion of performing
artists, all artists, and all
professionals who worked
forty or more weeks
1970 and 1976
1970
Performing artists
62%
All artists
79%
All professional workers
80%
1976
59%
74%
80%
Table 26
Median earnings of artists
by weeks worked
1970 and 1976
artists worked at least 40 weeks a year
(see Table 25) .
The effects of longer work periods on
artists' earnings are shown in Table 26.
Artists who reported working 40 or more
weeks in 1970 earned 19 percent more than
the general group of artists, and those
who reported working 4 0 or more weeks in
19 76 earned about a third more than all
artists .
In specific artist occupations, 1970
data show that actors, dancers, and musi-
cians/composers averaged fewer weeks
worked a year than other artists. Median
weeks worked for actors were about 34,
for dancers the period was 38, and for
musicians/composers it was 45. All other
artist occupations averaged 46 or more
weeks per year. This lesser amount of
time worked by actors, dancers, and musi-
cians/composers is reflected in their
annual earnings. In 19 70, median earnings
for these occupations is greater by 50 to
70 percent when we consider only persons
in these occupations who worked 40 or more
weeks (see Table 27) .
Median Median for
for all artists who
artists worked 4 0 or
more weeks
Percentage
increase
1970
$7,900
$ 9,400
19%
1976
$7,900
$10,700
35%
Sex
Female artists make only about 36 percent
of the median earnings of male artists--a
situation which did not change from 19 70
to 1976. In 1970, female artists had me-
dian earnings of $3,400 per year, while
male artists had median earnings of $9,500
per year (see Figure IV) . By 1976 median
earnings increased to $4,00 0 for women
Figure IV
Median earnings of male and female artists 1970 and 1976
Female artists
Male artists
1970
1976 1970
1976
$3,400
$4,000 $9,500
$10,900
28
Table 27
Percentage increase of those
who worked forty or more weeks
in artists' occupations 1970
Occupation
Median
Median for artists
who worked 4 0 or
more weeks
Percent
increase
Actors
$
5,900
$ 8,700
73%
Architects
$12,800
$13,400
5%
Authors
$
8,900
$10,200
15%
Dancers
$
3,300
$ 5,700
73%
Designers
$10,100
$10,600
5%
Musicians/composers
$
3,000
$ 5,200
73%
Painters/sculptors
$
7,000
$8,400
20%
Photographers
$
7,800
$ 8,500
9%
Radio -TV announcers
$
7,100
$ 8,100
14%
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
$
9,100
$10,400
14%
Other artists not else-
where classified
$
7,700
$ 9,200
19%
29
Table 28
Artists' earnings by sex
1970 and 1976
1970
Males
Females
Total
Earnings
Number
Cumulative Number
Cumulative Number
Cumulative
Loss
1,773
.4%
1,262
.8%
3,035
.5%
$0-1,999
51,712
12.1%
58,666
37.9%
110,378
18.9%
$2,000-2,999
15,805
15.7%
14,035
46.7%
29,840
23.9%
$3,000-3,999
17,659
19.7%
13,809
55.5%
31,468
29.1%
$4,000-4,999
17,169
23.6%
10,643
62.2%
27,812
33.8%
$5,000-5,999
21,478
28.5%
12,290
70.0%
33,768
39,4%
$6,000-6,999
22,684
33.6%
9,769
76.1%
32,453
44.8%
$7,000-7,999
26,856
39.7%
8,295
81.4%
35,151
50.7%
$8,000-8,999
30,045
46.5%
7,270
86.0%
37,315
56.9%
$9,000-9,999
28,516
53.0%
5,066
89.2%
33,582
62.5%
$10,000-10,999
38,957
61.8%
5,239
92.5%
44,196
69.9%
$11,000-11,999
23,677
67.2%
2,302
93.9%
25,979
74.2%
$12,000-12,999
27,531
73.4%
2,525
95.5%
30,056
79.3%
$13,000-13,999
17,295
77.3%
1,296
96.4%
18,591
82.4%
$14,000-14,999
14,642
80.6%
930
96.9%
15,572
85.0%
$15,000-15,999
16,837
84.5%
1,196
97.7%
18,033
88.0%
$16,000-16,999
8,340
86.4%
533
98.0%
8,873
89.4%
$17,000-24,999
36,595
94.7%
1,933
99.3%
38,528
94.9%
$25,000 or more
23,594
100.0%
1,170
100.0%
24,764
100.0%
Total
441,165
158,229
599,394
Median earnings
$9,540
$3,373
$7,880
30
and $10,900 for men (see Table 28).
Low earnings for women are not unique to
the arts. Data for all professional
workers in 1976 show that women profes-
sionals had median incomes that were 58
percent of the median incomes of male pro-
fessionals. Differences in male and
female earnings are, however, greater in
the artist occupations than they are
among all professional workers.
An earlier National Endowment for the Arts
Research Division Report, Minorities and
Women in the Arts: 1970, dealt with
earnings of "established" artists who were
at least 30 years old, had worked in the
same occupation in 1965 and 1970, and
had worked 4 0 weeks or more during the
year. These earnings statistics were con-
trolled for the effects of job inexperi-
ence and low work levels and showed that
established women artists had median
earnings that were less than half the
median earnings of comparably established
male artists: $5,500 for females as
opposed to $12,000 for males. Large
income differences between the sexes
existed in all artist occupations.
Census data provide little additional
information on reasons for inequality in
pay. However, much has been written on
this topic, suggesting such factors as
delays in career development of women due
to marriage, childrearing, lack of job
training, less time available for income-
producing work, occupational segregation,
and discriminatory practices in employ-
ment and appraisals of work. Census data
do show that women artists spend less time
working for pay. In 19 70 the proportion
of male artists working 50 to 52 weeks
per year and 30 hours or more per week was
nearly double the proportion of female
artists working at this level.
1976
Cumulative
Females
Number
Cumulative
Total
Number
Cumulative
6,708
1.1%
6,723
2.4%
13,341
1.5%
93,980
16.3%
89,329
33.9%
183,309
21.8%
43,962
23.4%
28,606
44.0%
72,568
29.8%
23,317
27.1%
17,133
50.0%
40,450
34.3%
22,288
30.7%
15,127
55.4%
37,415
3 8 . 5 -6
14,539
33.1%
16,072
61.1%
30,611
41.8%
29,284
37.8%
14,127
66.0%
43,411
46.7%
16,158
40.4%
16,029
71.7%
32,187
50.2%
21,988
44.0%
21,042
79.1%
43,030
55.0%
17,139
46.7%
10,735
82.9%
27,874
58.1%
22,312
50.3%
12,515
87.3%
34,827
61.9%
21,048
53.7%
8,897
90.5%
29,945
65.2%
31,085
58.7%
7,707
93.2%
38,792
69.5% '
29,950
63.6%
3,218
94.3%
33,168
73.2%
22,856
67.2%
1,189
94.7%
24,045
75.9%
33,431
72.7%
4,855
96.5%
38,286
80.1%
22,285-
76.3%
2,661
97.4%
24,946
82.9%
93,801
91.4%
5,320
99.3%
99,121
93.9%
53^181
100.0%
2,059
100.0%
55,240
100.0%
619,312
283,344
902,656
$10,910
$3,933
$7,936
31
Table 29
Median earnings
in artists' occupations
by age and sex 1970
Age 18-24
Age 25-34
Occupation
Males
Females
Males
Females
Actors
$1,900
$1,900
$
7,500
$5,800
Architects
$4,600
$3,500
$10,900
$8,000
Authors
$3,600
$3,000
$10,200
$5,100
Dancers
$3,200
$2,900
$
5,500
$4,100
Designers
$6,300
$3,500
$10,400
$6,000
Musicians/composers
$1,900
$1,300
$
6,500
$1,700
Painters/sculptors
$3,800
$3,100
$
*■
8,600
$4,700
Photographers
$4,000
$1,900
$
8,400
$4,100
Radio- TV announcers
$2,800
$3,300
$
7,900
$3,800
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
$1,900
$1,450
$
8,000
$4,800
Other artists not else-
where classified
$2,900
$2,600
$
8,800
$4,800
All artists
$3,100
$2,300
$
9,100
$4,400
All professional,
technical, and kindred
workers
$4,400
$3,900
$
9,700
$6,200
*Denotes too few cases for reliable estimates.
Cases included in median earnings for "All artists."
32
Age
Age of the artist is an important factor
in earnings for all artist occupations .
In 1970, artists between the ages of 18
and 2 4 were very low earners, averaging
about $3,000 per year. Earnings rose with
age and peaked in the 34-54 age group,
declining slightly after age 55.
There were some interesting exceptions.
Among teachers and musicians/composers,
median earnings did not decline after age
55. Among women, the earning peak occurred
at a younger age, between 25 and 34, de-
clining slightly after age 35 and then re-
maining stable (see Table 29) .
The effects of age on earnings are general-
ly similar for artists and all profession-
al workers, but if earnings of women are
isolated, it can be seen that median earn-
ings of all female professionals continue
to rise with age all the way into the
55-64 age group while median earnings of
female artists tend to decline after 34.
In all age groups, earnings of women art-
ists and other women professional con-
tinue to be considerably lower than
earnings of men. These data also confirm
athat in all age groups both male and fe-
male artists earn less than all profes-
sional workers at equivalent ages.
Age 35-54
Age 55-64
Males
Females
Males
Females
$10,000
$6,000
$ 8,500
$3,100
$15,300
$7,500
$15,100
$3,500
$12,200
$3,900
$10,300
$5,800
$12,500
$6,000
. *
m *
$12,500
$5,800
$12,000
$7,600
$ 8,400
$1,700
$ 8,500
$1,700
$11,100
$3,900
$10,200
$4,000
$ 9,900
$4,000
$ 9,400
$5,600
$11,700
$3,000
$ 9,800
... *
$12,700
$6,600
$13,700
$9,600
$11,200
$4,600
$10,400"
$3,000
$12,000
$4,000
$10,800
$4,000
$13,100
$6,500
$12,500
$7,300
33
Table 30
Median earnings
in artists' occupations
by education and sex 1970
Less than
four years
high school
Four years
high school
Occupation
Males
Females
Males
Females
Actors
$ 8,200
$4,500
$ 6,900
$3,400
Architects
$ 9,000
m *
$13,400
$6,300
Authors
$11,000
... *
$11,000
$2,800
Dancers
... *
$2,000
$ 9,000
$5,000
Designers
$10,400
$5,200
$11,000
$5,400
Musicians/composers
$ 6,000
$1,600
$ 7,600
$1,800
Painters/sculptors
$10,200
$3,400
$ 9,600
$3,900
Photographers
$ 9,200
$3,700
$ 9,500
$4,500
Radio-TV announcers
$ 9,200
:*■#■■.■#
$ 8,500
$2,500
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
$ 7,800
. *
$10,200
$6,200
Other artists not else-
where classified
$ 7,600
$3,600
$10,000
$4,600
All artists
$ 8,900
$3,400
$10,100
$3,800
All professional,
technical, and kindred
workers
$ 9,100
$4,400
$10,400
$5,400
*Denotes too few cases for reliable estimates.
Cases included in median earnings for "All artists."
34
Education
Education correlates positively with art-
ist earnings. As educational attainment
rises, earnings increase. The artist pop-
ulation has a relatively high level of
education. In 1970, 89 percent of artists
aged 25-64 had completed high school and
38 percent had four years or more of col-
lege.
Median earnings of Male artists ages 25-64
with at least four years of college were
$12,000 in 1970 (see Table 30). Male art-
ists in the same age group earned $10,000
if they had only a high school education,
and $8,900 if high school had not been
completed.
Among female artists, education is also
important and has its greatest effect on
earnings for the college-educated. Al-
though female artists with a college edu-
cation had median earnings of only $5,200
in 1970, this represents a 37 percent in-
crease in earnings over the same age group
of women artists with only a high school
education. In comparison, median earnings
of college-educated male artists rose only
19 percent above those with a high school
education.
On all educational levels, artists' earn-
ings in 1970 were lower than earnings of
all professional workers. These differ-
ences were greater among women than men.
Educational attainment is greater in some
artist occupations than it is in others.
In 1970 the highest educated artist occu-
pation was teachers of art, drama and
music in higher education — 95 percent of
who had attended college. This was fol-
lowed by architects (86 percent) and
authors (78 percent) . The occupations
with the lowest educational levels in 1970
One-three years
college
Four or more
years college
Males
Females
Males
Females
$ 7,600
$8,200
$ 8,600
$5,100
$12,700
. *
$13,800
$8,500
$10,600
$6,200
$12,300
$5,200
. *
$3,000
$ 5,500
. *
$11,300
$6,500
$12,500 '
$6,900
$ 8,000
$1,700
$ 8,800
$1,800
$10,300
$4,000
$ 1,800
$5,500
$ 9,200
$2,800
$ 9,500
$5,000
$ 9,900
$4,500
$10,800
$7,500
$ 9,300
$3,300
$11,000
$6,800
$10,400
$5,100
$11,2#6
$5,000
$10,400
$3,900
$12,000
$5,200
$10,800
$5,500
$13,000
$7,600
35
Table 31
Proportion of
artists age 25-64
with some college
education by
occupation 1970
Actors
62%
Architects
86%
Authors
78%
Dancers
22%
Designers
62%
Musicians/composers
52%
Painters/sculptors
60%
Photographers
36%
Radio-TV announcers
63%
Teachers of art, drama
and music (higher edu-
cation)
95%
Other artists not else-
where classified
55%
All artists
62%
were dancers and photographers. Only 22
percent of dancers and 36 percent of
photographers had attended college (see
Table 31) .
These educational differences correlate
positively with the earnings achieved in
each occupation. In particular, archi-
tects and authors have high earnings,
while earnings of dancers and photograph-
ers are relatively low.
Race
As previously described, median earnings
for all artists did not change from 1970
to 1976. For black artists during this
six-year period, median earnings actually
declined from $5,800 in 1970 to about
$4,900 in 1976 (see Table 32). As a group,
black artists earned about 70 percent of
median earnings of the white artist popu-
lation in 1970. By 1976, their relative
earnings dropped to about 60 percent.
The effects of race on earning
be greater among artists than
professional workers. For all
als, blacks had median earning
in 1976. This represented 85
the $11,500 in median earnings
professionals. For additional
refer to National Endowment fo
Research Division Report #7 (s
the back of this report) .
s appear to
among all
profession-
s of $9,800
percent of
of white
detail ,
r the Arts,
ee list at
36
Table 32
Artists' earnings
by race 1970 and 1976
1970
Earnings
Blacks
Number
Cumulative
Whites
Number
Cumulative
$0-1,999
$2,000-2,999
$3,000-3,999
$4,000-4,999
$5,000-5,999
$6,000-6,999
3,530
1,465
1,789
1,572
1,855
1,552
17.9%
25.4%
34.4%
42.4%
51.8%
59.7%
96,720
29,421
30,619
26,075
32,187
31,131
17.0%
27.5%
32.1%
37.8%
43.3%
$7,000-7,999
$8,000-9,999
$10,000-11,999
$12,000-14,999
$15,000-24,999
$25,000 or more
1,374
2,066
1,868
1,524
870
236
66.7%
77.2%
86.7%
94.4%
98.8%
100.0%
33,837
69,234
68,248
62,453
64,937
24,140
49,
61.
73.4%
84.3%
95.8%
100.0%
Total
19,701
569,002
Median earnings
$5,800
$8,200
1976
Earnings
Blacks
Number
Cumulative
Whites
Number
Cumulative
$0-1,999
$2,000-2,999
$3,000-3,999
$4,000-4,999
$5,000-5,999
$6,000-7,999
10,518
6,938
2,329
4,449
2,374
4,800
22.3%
37.0%
41.9%
51.3%
56.3%
66.5%
182,434
63,110
36,246
31,500
27,993
36,853
21.
,9%
29.
.5%
33.
Q9-
37.
, 6 %
41.
.0%
45.
.4%
49.
,0%
56.
. 8 •s
64.
75.
9S-
. Z. o
93.
. 8 -6
100.
.0%
$7,000-7,999
$8,000-9,999
$10,000-11,999
$12,000-14,999
$15,000-24,999
$25,000 or more
2,544
4,197
1,355
2,213
3,456
2,060
71.9%
80.0%
83.6%
88.3%
95.6%
100.0%
29,254
64,937
62,904
90,851
154,648
51,454
Total
47,233
832,131
Median earnings
$4,861
$8,228
37
Table 33 Median earnings
in artists' occupations
by region 1970
Occupation
Northeast
North Central
South
West
Actors
$ 5,700
$
2,900
$
5,100
$
6,400
Architects
$12,800
$13,200
$12,600
$12,700
Authors
$ 9,400
$
8,800
$10,000
$
8,600
Dancers
$ 3,900
$
4,000
$
2,300
$
3,700
Designers
$10,500
$10,500 .
$
8,900
$
9,400
Musicians/composers
$ 3,600
$
2,000
$
2,700
$
3,600
Painters/sculptors
$ 7,400
$
7,900
$
5,700
$
6,600
Pho togr apher s
$ 8,200
$
7,700
$
7,100
$
7,800
Radio-TV announcers
$ 8,100
$
6,900
$
5,900
$
7,200
Teachers of art, drama,
music (higher education)
$10,200
$
8,500
$
8,400
$10,200
Other artists not else-
where classified
$ 8,400
$
8,100
$
6,800
$
7,600
All artists
$ 8,600
$
8,200
$
6,800
$
7,700
38
Residence
Artists living in different geographic
regions of the country had some differ-
ences in earnings. In 1970, artists in
the Northeast had median earnings of
$8,600 compared with $8,200 in the North
Central region, $7,700 in the West, and
$6,800 in the South (see Table 33).
Within specific artist occupations there
is some variation in 1970 median earnings
from one region to another. The actor
occupation has the greatest range. In
197 0, actors reported very low median
earnings (less than $3,000) in the North
Central region, but averaged $6,400 in the
West. Architects had the most uniform
earnings across the four regions in 1970.
In the metropolitan areas of New York,
Chicago, and Los Angeles, median earnings
of artists were very similar in 1970.
Chicago's artists reported median earnings
of $9,500, New York artists $9,300, and
Los Angeles artists $8,500. In the indi-
vidual occupations, the greatest variabi-
lity in earnings was for musicians/ compo-
sers, photographers, teachers, and radio-
TV announcers. Musicians/composers earned
most in New York and Los Angeles, photo-
graphers earned most in Chicago, and
teachers earned most in Los Angeles (see
Table 34) .
Table 34
Median earnings in artists' occupations
in three largest Standard Metropolitan
Statistical Areas 1970
Occupation
New York
Los Angeles
Chicago
Actors
$
5,100
$ 6,200
$
5,000
Architects
$15,100
$13,800
$13,800
Authors
$
7,800
$ 8,400
$
6,500
Dancers
$
5,700
$ 4,000
$
4,000
Designers
$10,300
$10,200
$11,100
Musicians/composers
$
6,500
$ 6,500
$
3,800
Painters/sculptors
$
9,200
$ 7,400
$
9,100
Photographers
$
9,000
$ 7,300
$
9,600
Radio- TV announcers
*
*
::■'■-.'..»*'■-■». ■ ■
*
Teachers of art, drama,
music (higher education)
$
9,100
$11,300
$
9,300
Other artists not else-
where classified
$
9,400
$ 8,900
$
8,800
All artists
$
9,300
$ 8,500
$
9,500
♦Denotes too few cases for reliable estimates.
Cases included in median earnings for "All artists."
39
Household earnings
Earnings of other members of artists'
households tend to offset the relatively
low personal earnings of certain artists.
The data show that household-level median
earnings tended to remain constant at
about $13,000 in 1970 (see Table 36) and
$18,000 in 1976 (see Table 37), regard-
less of the amount of time the artist in
the household worked during the year or
the sex of the artist (see Table 35) .
Data in 1970 also show that artist occu-
pational differences diminish when house-
hold-level earnings are considered (see
Table 38) . This suggests that many art-
ist with low personal earnings are depen-
dent on other household earners to main-
tain the household income at a satisfac-
tory level.
Household earnings for artists are also
closer to household earnings for all pro-
fessional workers than was the case with
personal earnings. In 1976, median house-
hold earnings for artists were about
$17,900 compared with $20,400 in median
household earnings for professional work-
ers. These data suggest that, while art-
ists' personal earnings are relatively
low, artists tend to be members of house-
holds with professional-level earnings.
Although artists' personal earnings did
not increase significantly between 1970
and 1976, their total household earnings
rose considerably during the period, by
about 40 percent.
Table 35
Median household earnings of artists
by sex and weeks worked
1970 and 1976
All
artist
households
Male
artist
households
Female
artist
households
Artists who worked
40 or more weeks
households
1970
$12,800
$12,900
$12,400
$13,300
1976
$17,900
$18,200
$17,500
$19,000
40
Table 36
Artists' heads of
household earnings
by sex 1970 and 1976
Male head
s of
Female heads of
Total
household
s
household;
3
Earnings
Number
Cumulative
Number
Cumulative
Number
Cumulative
LOSS
501
.1%
167
.1%
668
.1%
$0-1,999
12,801
3.1%
7,306
4.9%
20,107
3.5%
$2,000-2,999
8,286
5.0%
4,276
7.6%
12,562
5.7%
$3,000-3,999
9,230
7.1%
4,886
10.8%
14,11-6
8.1%
$4,000-4,999
12,000
9.9%
5,169
14.2%
17,169
11.0%
$5,000-5,999
13,871
13.1%
6,940
18.7%
20,811
14.5%
$6,000-6,999
15,237
16.6%
6,833
23.1%
22,070
18.3%
$7,000-7,999
17,878
20.7%
7,799
2. 0 • 2. "6
25,677
22.7%
$8,000-8,999
23,877
26.2%
8,508
33.8%
32,385
28 • 2-6
$9,000-9,999
23,930
31.7%
7,339
38.5%
31,269
33.5%
$10,000-10,999
30,986
38.8%
9,037
44.4%
40,023
40.3%
$11,000-11,999
25,688
44.7%
7,190
49.1%
32,878
45.9%
$12,000-12,999
28,777
51.4%
9,203
55.1%
37,980
52.3%
$13,000-13,999
24,803
57.1%
7,003
59.6%
31,806
57.8%
$14,000-14,999
21,181
62.0%
6,662
64.0%
27,843
62.5%
$15,000-15,999
22,455
67.1%
5,774
67.7%
28,229
67.3%
$16,000-16,999
16,838
71.0%
5,734
71.5%
22,572
71.1%
$17,000-24,999
80,265
89.5%
27,118
89.1%
107,383
89.4%
$25,000 or more
45,596
100.0%
16,749
100.0%
62,345
100.0% r
Total
441,165
158,229
599,394
Median earnings .
$ 12,914
$ 12,398
$ 12,789
41
Table 37
Artists' heads of household
earnings by sex 1976
Male heads of
households
Female heads of
households
Total
Earnings
Number Cumulative Number
Cumulative
Number
Cumulative
$0-1,999
11,547
1.9%
6,002
J. • 4- '6
17,549
2.0%
$2,000-2,999
7,831
3.2%
4,584
3.9%
12,415
3.4%
$3,000-3,999
11,114
5.1%
7,570
6.7%
18,684
5.6%
$4,000-4,999
6,654
6.2%
5,105
8.6%
11,759
6.9%
$5,00.0-5,999
13,137
8.4%
10,759
12.6%
23,895
9.7%
$6,000-6,999
14,483
10.8%
10,654
16.5%
25,137
12.6%
$7,000-7,999
12,772
12.9%
6,626
18.9%
19,398
14.8%
$8,000-8,999
13,961
15.3%
7,190
21.6%
21,151
17.2%
$9,000-9,999
$10,000-10,999
$11,000-11,999
$12,000-12,999
$13,000-13,999
$14,000-14,999
$15,000-15,999
16,773
19,194
22,060
17,794
29,110
19,170
41,915
18.0%
21.2%
24.9%
27.9%
32.7%
35.9%
42.9%
10,514
13,047
10,572
7,233
7,729
8,571
7,228
25.5%
30.3%
34.2%
36.9%
39,
42,
45.6%
27,288
32,241
32,632
25,027
36,840
27,741
49,143
20.4%
24.1%
27.8%
30.7%
34.9%
38.1%
43.7%
$16,000-16,999
$17,000-17,999
$18,000-18,999
$19,000-19,999
$20,000-24,999
$25,000 or more
22,329
26,008
19,224
27,840
95,136
46.6%
51.0%
54.2%
58.8%
74.7%
151,828 100.0%
11,050
14,558
11,522
5,269
28,941
76,149
49.6%
55.0%
59.3%
61.2%
71.9%
100.0%
33,379
40,566
30,746
33,109
124,077
227,977
47.6%
55.8%
59.6%
73.8%
100.0%
Total
619,307
283,346
902,656
Median earnings
$ 18,198
$ 17,497
$ 17,913
42
Architect households continued to have
the highest median earnings of any artist
occupation, and dancer households remained
at the low end of the earnings scale.
The low household-level earnings of dan-
cers may be attributed to the high pro-
portion of dancers who are female heads
of household. Selected Characteristics
of Artists: 1970, National Endowment for
the Arts, Research Division Report #10
examines this subject in detail (see
list at the back of this report) .
Table 38
Role of the artist as a household provider
Like other workers in the United States,
artists help provide for the economic
needs of their families. Many artists
are heads of families and chief income
recipients in their families. Census and
SIE data are used here to examine the re-
lationship of artists' earnings to their
household and family earnings.
Contribution to household earnings
The contribution by artists to household-
level earnings is an indicator of the ex-
Median household earnings
in artists' occupations 1970
Actors
$12,500
Architects
$15,800
Authors
' $13,700
Dancers
$ 8,000
Designers
$13,500
Musicians/composers
$11,300
Painters/sculptors
$12,400
Photographers
$11,800
Radio-TV announcers
$12,000
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
Other artists not else-
where classified
All artists
$13,800
$12,500
$12,800
fr
43
Table 39
Artists' personal earnings as a
proportion of median household
earnings by sex and weeks worked
1970 and 1976
All
artists
Male
Female
Worked 4 0 or more
weeks
1970
62%
74%
27%
71%
1976
44%
60%
23!
57!
tent of financial dependence of artists
on other household earners. This was
examined by calculating the proportion of
median household earnings that are ac-
counted for by median personal earnings
of artists. In 1970, artists' median
personal earnings accounted for well over
half (62 percent) of their median house-
hold earnings, but by 1976 their contri-
bution dropped to below half (about 44
percent) . Artists who worked 40 or more
weeks during the year contributed a great-
er share to household earnings — 71 percent
in 1970 and about 57 percent in 1976 (see-
Table 39) .
Female artists were considerably more
dependent on earnings of other household
members than were male artists. In 1970
and 1976, their median earnings accounted
for only about one-fourth of their median
household income.
The extent of artists' contributions to
household earnings varied by occupation
in 1970. As might be expected, artists
in the highest-earning occupations (archi-
tects; designers; teachers of art, drama,
and music in higher education; and authors)
contributed most to their household in-
comes, while artists in the lowest-earning
occupations (musicians and dancers) con-
tributed least. As shown in Figure V,
artists in high-earning occupations pro-
vided about three-fourths of their house-
hold earnings, while in low-earning occu-
pations artists were able to provide less
than half, making them more dependent on
other household earners.
44
Figure V
Median personal earnings as a proportion of median
household earnings in artists' occupations 1970
Architects
Designers
Teachers of art, drama
and music (higher
education)
Photographers
Authors
Radio-TV announcers
Painters/sculptors
Actors
Dancers
Musicians/composer
82%
7 5?
66%
66%
65!
59<
56'-
47%
41?
27%
45
Table 40
Chief household income recipients
in artists' occupations
by weeks worked 1969
Worked in 1969
Worked 40 or more
weeks in 1969
Occupation
Number of
chief income
recipients
Percent of
total in
households
Number of
chief income
recipients
Percent of
total in
households
Actors
9,498
69%
4,637
76%
Architects
52,636
93%
49,403
95%
Authors
20,591
78% 18,223
83%
Dancers
4,038
61%
2,371
68%
Designers
90,585
82%
84,428
86%
Musicians/composers
53,363
56%
37,305
64%
Painters/sculptors
73,551
69%
65,550
75%
Photographers
52,069
79%
47,171
83%
Radio-TV announcers
17,061
77%'
14,929
82%
Teachers of art, drama,
and music (higher edu-
cation)
24,354
80%
19,125
85%
Other artists not else-
where classified
47,345
74%
40,340
80%
All artists
445,091
74%
383,482
80%
46
Chief income recipients in households
The 197 0 Census asked persons whether
they were the family member with the
largest income. Nearly three-fourths of
artists, including those not living in
families, said they were the chief income
recipient (see Table 40) . Artists who
worked less than 40 weeks during the year
have income-producing responsibilities to
their households, with exactly half being
the chief income recipient.
The proportion of artists who were chief
income recipients in their households
varied by artist occupation. As might be
expected, artists in the highest-earning
occupations (architects; designers; and
teachers of art, drama, and music in high-
er education) were most likely to be chief
income recipients for their households,
while artists in the low-earning occupa-
tions (musicians and dancers) were least
likely to be chief income recipients.
Nevertheless, even in the dancer occupa-
tion, 61 percent were chief income reci-
pients.
Worked less than
40 weeks in 1969
Number of
chief income
recipients
Percent of
total in
households
4,861
63%
3,233
68%
2,368
53%
1,667
54%
6,157
52%
16,058
44%
8,001
41%
4,898
54%
2,132
55%
5,229
64%
7,005
52%
61,609
50!
47
Table 41
Chief family income recipients
in artists' occupations
by weeks worked 1969
Worked in 1969
Worked 4 0 or more weeks
in 1969
Occupation
Number of
chief income
recipients
Percent of
total in
households
Number of
chief income
recipients
Percent of
total in
households
Actors
4,342
50%
2,407
62%
Architects
45,992
92%
43,963
95%
Authors
15,028
72%
13,791
79%
Dancers
1,702
40%
1,202
51%
Designers
73,548
79%
70,748
83%
Musicians/composers
32,571
44%
25,767
57%
Painters/sculptors
53,912
62%
49,813
69%
Photographers
42,994
75%
40,532
80%
Radio-TV announcers
12,399
71%
11,730
78%
Teachers of art,
drama, and music
(higher education)
16,917
73%
14,018
81%
Other artists not
elsewhere classified
35,071
68% 31,769
76%
-"'."'
All artists
334,476
68%
305,740
77%
48
Artists who lived with family members were
less likely to be chief income recipients
in 1970 than the general group of artists
in all types of living arrangements (see
Table 41) . In particular, family living
arrangements allowed artists who worked
less than 40 weeks during the year to be
more dependent on other family members.
Among artists living in families and work-
ing less than 4 0 weeks, only one-third
were chief income recipients. This com-
pares with half who were chief income
recipients among all artists working less
than 40 weeks.
Worked less than 40 weeks
in 1969
Number of Percent of
chief income total in
recipients households
1,935
41%
2,029
57%
1,237
15%
500
26%
2,800
33%
6,804
25%
4,099
26%
2,462
37%
669
28%
2,899 49%
3,302 34%
28,736 32%
49
Artists as family heads
In the 1970 Census, the head of household
for husband-wife families is always con-
sidered to be the husband for purposes
of simplifying data tabulations. There-
fore, these data cover only male artists.
They are useful for comparative purposes
with all professional workers. Among
husband-wife families which had an artist
as their head, 1970 median earnings were
generally lower than median earnings among
husband-wife families with all types of
professional workers as their head (see
Table 42). Architects and authors were
an exception; their families generally
had higher earnings than families of all
professional workers. (The Bureau of the
Census is planning to gradually eliminate
the concept of household "head" in data
Table 42
Median earnings in artists'occupations
of husband-wife families with artist as head
by size of family and number of earners 1970
Occupation of family head
Two-person families
One earner Two earners
Three/four-person families
One earner
Two or more
earners
Actors
$ 9,200
$ 8,800
$13,700
$14,800
Architects
$16,900
$15,500
$14,900
$17,400
Authors
$16,000
$13,500
$12,800
$16,200
Dancers
. *
. *
. *
*
Designers
$12,400
$14,300
$12,800
$14,500
Musicians/composers
$ 8,700
$ 9,700
$10,500
$11,200
Painters/sculptors
$10,900
$13,400
$12,300
$14,300
Photographers
$10,200
$12,600
$11,000
$13,300
Radio -TV announcers
$16,200
$11,300
$10,400
$11,400
Teachers of art, drama,
music (higher education)
$13,500
$14,100
$11,900
$15,900
Other artists not else-
where classified
$12,000
$13,400
$11,700
$14,300
All professional,
technical, and kindred
workers
$13,500
$13,900
$12,700
$14,900
*Denotes too few fases for reliable estimates.
Cases included in median earnings for "All artists."
enumeration and tabulation.)
Family size seemed to make little differ-
ence in total family income. Family
incomes increased only slightly as family
size increased. These trends existed for
both artists and for all professional
workers who were family heads.
Families with more than one earner gener-
ally had higher incomes than families
with single earners. However, their in-
comes averaged only about $1,500 more in
1970 than incomes of single-earner fami-
lies. In two-person families of archi-
tects, actors, authors, and radio-TV
announcers, incomes averaged higher in
families where only the household head
was an earner than in families where both
husband and wife worked.
Five-or-more person families
One earner Two or more
earners
*
*■'*-,*
*
• * •
$16,500
$19,600
$13,600
$14,000
... *
m *
$13,500
$15,500
$10,200
$13,300
$13,000
$15,400
$12,200
$12,800
$12,600
$14,100
$14,100 $16,300
$12,700 $14,600
$14,000 $16,800
51
Table 43
Husband-wife families in artists' occupations
with artist as head and two or more earners
1970
Occupation of family head
Total
husband- wife
families
Families with two
or more earners
Number
Percent
Actors
4,567
2,867
63%
Architects
46,412
20,309
44%
Authors
14,325
7,299
50%
Dancers
463
198
43%
Designers
68,422
34,327
50%
Musicians/ composers
33,009
19,874
60%
Painters/sculptors
49,257
26,154
53%
Photographers
44,543
24,928
56%
Radio-TV announcers
12,260
7,695
63%
Teachers of art, drama, music
(higher education)
16,112
10,312
64%
Other artists not elsewhere
classified
33,914
17,712
52'
All artists
323,284
171,605
53*
All professional,
technical, and kindred
workers
5,643,951
3,273,180
58%
52
Table 44
1969 poverty status in artists'
occupations of husband-wife families
with artist as head 1970
Occupation of family head
Income below poverty level
Number of Percent
families
Actors
268
5.9%
Architects
1,235
2.7%
Authors
334
2.3%
Dancers
*
_ *
Designers
1,066
1.6%
Musicians/composers
2,495
7.6%
Painters/sculptors
1,538
3.1%
Photographers
1,333
3.0%
Radio-TV announcers
569
4.6%
Teachers of art, drama,
music (higher education)
596
3.7%
Other artists not elsewhere
classified
1.199
3.5%
All artists
10,666
3.3%
All professional,
technical and kind-red
workers
96,097
1.7%
All workers
2,251,252
5.5%
*Denotes too few cases for reliable estimates,
Among all husband-wife families which had
an artist as their head, about half of the
families had more than one earner (see Ta-
ble 43) . This was slightly lower than the
average for all families with a profession-
al worker at their head. The proportion of
families which had more than one earner
varied little by artist occupation.
Poverty status in artist families
Data on poverty status were developed
using the Census Bureau's coding of pov-
erty-level family income. This defini-
tion takes account of such factors as
family size, number of children, and farm
and nonfarm residence, as well as money
income. In 1970, the average poverty
threshold for a nonfarm family of four
headed by a male was about $3,750.
The 1970 Census
artist families
poverty level.
with an artist
cent had income
(see Table 44) .
1.6 percent for
for musicians a
lies were more
status than fam
workers, but ar
likely to be in
lies of the gen
States workers.
data show that very few
had incomes below the
Among husband-wife families
as the head, only 3.3 per-
s below the poverty level
This figure ranged from
designers to 7.6 percent
nd composers. Artist f ami-
likely to be in poverty
ilies of all professional
tist families were less
poverty status than fami-
eral population of United
53
REPORTS IN THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE
ARTS RESEARCH DIVISION SERIES
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National Endowment for the Arts has been
studying matters of interest to the arts
community and issuing reports based on
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#1 Employment and Unemployment of Artists
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#2 To Survey American Crafts: A Planning
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#3 Understanding the Employment of Actors,
36 pages. September 1977. $2.00
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#7 Minorities and Women in the Arts: 1970,
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#8 The State Arts Agencies in 1974: All
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#9 Audience Studies of the Performing
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106 pages. November 1978. $3.00
#10 Self-Employment, Migration, and
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$2.00
#11 Conditions and Needs of the Profes-
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