Cultural professionals, half earn less than 8 euros per hour and less than 850 euros per month

A survey on cultural heritage work conducted by the movement Do You Recognize Me? I am a cultural heritage professional, the results of which were partly released today, revealed a staggering reality of professionals working for pennies per hour and declaring very low annual figures. Specifically, according to the statistics surveyed by the collective, 63 percent of cultural professionals earn less than 10 thousand euros a year (or less than 850 euros a month, excluding even thirteenth and fourteenth month bonuses), with 38 percent even having figures of less than 5 thousand euros in their tax returns. Earnings between 10 and 15 thousand euros for 17 percent, between 15 and 20 thousand euros for 11 percent, while only 8 percent take home earnings between 20 and 30 thousand euros. Even lower figures for professionals who earn between 30 and 40 thousand euros (0.91 percent) and those who instead have statements between 40 and 50 thousand euros (0.19 percent).

It is no better on the estimated average hourly wage front. Here, half of the professionals, or 49% of the total, reveal that they earn less than 8 euros per hour: 12% receive pay of less than 4 euros per hour, while 37% range from 4 to 8 euros per hour. If we add the 29% of those earning between 8 and 12 euros per hour, we arrive at an impressive 78% of professionals earning less than 12 euros per hour. On the other hand, 9% are those who receive pay between 12 and 16 euros per hour, 5% earn between 16 and 20 euros per hour, the percentage of those who earn between 20 and 25 euros per hour stands at 3% (the same percentage also for salaries between 25 and 30 euros per hour), while only 2% earn more than 30 euros per hour.

The research, conducted this summer, closed on September 30, 2019, and collected testimonies from 1,546 cultural workers from all over Italy, the majority of whom were adults over the age of 30 (although the age composition of the sample has not yet been disclosed). The full results of the survey will be presented at a press conference on October 30 at the Chamber of Deputies, in the presence of politicians and institutions, and will then be illustrated in the weeks to come in a series of meetings around Italy (dates and places will be announced later).

The activists of Mi Riconosci? speak of a “social emergency that politics must address”: “the cultural sector,” they write, “is based on these incomes, these contracts, these specialized workers forced to live, for precise political choices, below the poverty line.”

Ph. Credit Manfred Glössl

Cultural professionals, half earn less than 8 euros per hour and less than 850 euros per month

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