Future of UK’s writing profession is under threat

The future of writing as a primary profession is under threat in the UK, according to new research led by the University of Glasgow into authors' earnings and contracts. 'Authors' Earnings and Contracts' shares findings from a nationwide survey of 60,000 authors about their earnings and professional lives. This was undertaken by CREATe (the UK Copyright & Creative Economy Research Centre based at the University's School of Law and Advanced Research Centre - ARC), who were commissioned by the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) to conduct this independent research. This report is situated amidst a global trend towards the de-valuing of creative labour, and findings suggest that COVID-19, Brexit and the cost of living crisis have all accelerated an existing decline in writing as a profession. In the same survey undertaken in 2006, 40% of authors earned all of their income from writing, compared to 19% in 2022. Self-employed writing earnings for primary occupation writers (who spend more than 50% of their working time writing) have also dropped substantially from £17,608 in 2006 (allowing for inflation), to £7,000 in 2022. The report found that diversity is an issue in the profession, with women, black and mixed-race authors, the very young, and very old, all earning less than their respective counterparts.