Basic income, post-precarious outcome? How creative workers perceive participating in an experiment with basic income

Abstract

ABSTRACT Precarity has long been a defining feature of the creative industries. Recently, the concept of a (universal) basic income (UBI) has received increased academic and policy interest as a way to mitigate the cultural and creative labour market’s precarious conditions. However, little is known about how artists experience receiving a basic income, and how this affects their work practices. Therefore, we explored such self-perceived effects of a basic income on artists’ professional and personal lives. We interviewed the recipients and the organisers of No Strings Attached – a 6-month experiment offering seven creative workers a basic income – at the beginning, middle, and end of this initiative (n = 22). Contrary to expectations of decreased productivity, our findings reveal three main ways in which respondents allocated their basic income: (1) “buying” time to improve their quality of work, (2) “buying” time to improve their quality of life, and (3) direct career investments.