As many as 85% of actors say their financial situation forces them to take jobs outside their artistic profession. More than half have also experienced difficulties paying social insurance contributions, according to research conducted by the Association of Polish Stage Artists, known as ZASP.
Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage has prepared a bill on social security protection for people working in artistic professions. The legislation is intended to address the lack of systemic support for artists, although industry representatives argue that several provisions still need to be revised.
“The government bill on social security protection for people working in artistic professions responds to expectations that are by no means new,” Anna Maria Buczek, actress and vice-president of ZASP’s Main Board, told the Newseria news agency.
“As early as 1934, a manifesto issued by Kraków artists included the demand: ‘We demand social insurance for artists.’ That was almost 100 years ago. The bill is a response to this demand, for which we are extremely grateful. However, it is not a perfect proposal. It does not fully protect the entire artistic community, although it will help those facing the greatest difficulties.”
More than 62,000 people work in artistic professions
Poland’s community of artists, creators and performers comprises approximately 62,400 people, according to the report Policzone, policzeni 2024, prepared by a research team from SWPS University led by Professor Dorota Ilczuk.
Their economic circumstances vary significantly, but many face serious financial insecurity. Data cited by the Ministry of Culture shows that 69% of artists earn less than the national average, while approximately 30% receive income below the minimum wage.
“Professor Ilczuk’s research indicates that around 21,000 artists may be able to apply for artist status combined with the possibility of receiving subsidies for social insurance contributions,” Buczek said.
“The most important aspect is that the legislation recognises an artist as a working person who performs a profession. It brings us into the social insurance system.”
Few artists have permanent employment contracts
The Policzone, policzeni 2024 report shows that only 8.3% of artists have permanent employment contracts, while 2.7% are employed under fixed-term contracts. Together, these groups account for just over 6,864 creators and artists.
Meanwhile, 37% work under contracts for a specific task, while 13.9% rely on mandate contracts. Due to the structure of these agreements, a significant proportion of artists are not covered by social insurance and therefore cannot access public healthcare or benefits connected with illness and maternity.
Among the artists surveyed, 67.3% have social insurance coverage resulting from their form of employment, while 8.4% pay contributions voluntarily. Approximately 10% have no form of insurance coverage at all.
“An artist who is in the process of creating something before the work is completed may be writing a book for many months, painting a picture for several weeks, actively waiting for the next contract or preparing for another audition,” Buczek explained.
“In such circumstances, it is almost impossible to remain continuously covered by the social insurance system. The system requires contributions to be paid every month. It was designed for full-time employment and is completely unsuited to contract-based work.”
She emphasised that the problem is not necessarily caused by employers but by a system that does not recognise the specific nature of artistic work.
“Artists were effectively invisible to the system, which meant that they could not afford to become ill. A pregnant woman could not benefit from maternity leave because she was not covered by the system. A singer performing concerts may be legally prohibited from remaining in an environment with such high noise levels during pregnancy. She is then left in an impossible situation: she cannot earn money, but she is not insured either.”
Subsidies would guarantee continuous insurance coverage
The government bill proposes a system of subsidies for social insurance contributions. The mechanism would provide artists with continuous coverage when their income is too low to pay the required contributions independently.
The support would be available to people whose average income from artistic activity did not exceed 125% of the minimum wage during the previous three years.
The funds would not be paid directly to artists. Instead, they would be transferred to their individual contribution accounts at Poland’s Social Insurance Institution, or ZUS. This would ensure continuity of insurance coverage and allow recipients to build retirement capital.
“This fundamentally changes the situation of artists because they would remain insured continuously, every month,” Buczek said.
“If someone temporarily becomes unable to work — for example, if a dancer breaks a leg — that person would be able to receive treatment and remain covered by the public healthcare system.”
New professional artist status
The proposed legislation would introduce the formal status of a professional artist. It would be granted upon application to people who work professionally in artistic activities and can provide evidence of their creative achievements.
The status would generally remain valid for five years, with the possibility of extending it to eight years.
ZASP has called for changes to the terminology used in the bill. The organisation argues that the term “professional artist” could create divisions within the artistic community by appearing to assess the quality or legitimacy of an artist’s work.
“We have submitted a proposal to change the terminology defining an artist as a ‘professional artist’,” Buczek said.
“This could expose the artistic community to internal divisions. The legislation and the terminology used in it should not determine the quality of an artist. The name should describe the artist’s relationship with the social insurance system — in other words, whether the person is covered by insurance.”
Industry questions the proposed income calculation
Another concern is the method that would be used to assess an artist’s financial situation and determine eligibility for subsidies.
ZASP wants the threshold to be based directly on the minimum wage rather than on taxable income after deductible expenses.
“The provision must be compatible with other legislation, which is why the bill currently refers to ‘income’. However, this creates a highly problematic situation,” Buczek explained.
“We want the provision to refer precisely to the minimum wage rather than to tax-deductible costs. If I earn PLN 10,000, after deducting allowable expenses my taxable income may be PLN 5,000. That is how the system works. But we do not want eligibility to be assessed in this way, so we will strongly request that the word ‘income’ be changed.”
Under the proposed legislation, the subsidy would be granted following an application from an eligible artist. It would apply for the period during which the person is covered by pension and disability insurance, but for no longer than 12 months.
Each subsidy period would begin on 1 August and continue until 31 July of the following year.
Self-employed artists could be excluded
One of the most controversial provisions concerns artists who operate as sole traders. Under the current version of the bill, people conducting business activity would not be eligible to apply for the subsidy.
This could exclude a significant part of the artistic community. Research shows that 18.7% of artists describe themselves as self-employed.
“There is another issue that needs to be clarified,” Buczek said. “People operating as sole traders — and there are many such artists — would currently be unable even to submit an application.”
“Even when their business is struggling, they would have to suspend it. They would then fall out of the system, lose their insurance coverage and be unable to use public healthcare, not to mention losing the opportunity to pay contributions towards their future pension.”
Representatives of the artistic community broadly welcome the government’s attempt to create a dedicated social security system for artists. However, they argue that excluding self-employed people, relying on problematic income definitions and introducing potentially divisive terminology could significantly limit the effectiveness of the reform.
