‘Shit is hard, yo’: young people making a living in the creative industries

ABSTRACT

Contemporary social science research on the creative industries demonstrates inequities in accessing good work in this field. Nonetheless, youth still increasingly are seeking to create careers in these fields. However, economic indicators that register growing employment in the creative industries may not fully register the participation of youth. The Young People Making a Living in the Creative Industries research project sought to document the multiple income streams that youth draw on while attempting to make a living in creative fields, mapping the areas of challenge and success in the entry years to creative work. Respondents in the research project articulated an informed knowingness and resistance to the norms of unpaid work in the creative industries and forwarded gender and race as structural categories that impact the experience of entry-level creative work. Respondents also articulated forming communities of care to respond to these challenges, including collectives, support groups, and other forms of networks, while highlighting the challenge of balancing community-based and economic motivations for creative industries work. The study highlights the role of community youth arts programmes on creative industries career incubation for youth, and the need to hear from youth themselves to better map youth participation in the creative industries.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth
• creative industries
• indicators income
• diversity
• communities of care

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges research assistance from Anna Frey, Celeste Ali-Akow, Lucy Wowk, and Kait Kribs in launching and conducting this research project, analyzing data, and preparing the article for submission.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The Hill Strategies Research analysis makes use of National Household Survey (NHS) and the Labour Force Survey (LFS) from 2011, and so relies on the data collection methodology of these surveys. The Young People Making a Living in the Creative Industries data collection took place in 2015–2016, in this period in which Canada was not administering a mandatory long-form census, which was replaced with a voluntary annual NHS and monthly LFS. Many social scientists decried the decision to abandon the long-form census in Canada in 2011. The long-form census returned in 2016 with a change in Canadian government; full analysis of the 2016 Canadian census is still forthcoming. See, for example, Green and Milligan (2010), Veal (2010), and Walton-Roberts et al. (2014) for discussion of the implications for the social sciences in Canada in this period of the absence of the long-form census.

2. For a more detailed exploration of how gender impacts creative industries employment, in particular in screen industries, see Coles (2016).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ryerson University [Faculty of Communication and Design Small Grant] and [Faculty of Communication and Design Travel Grant].

Notes on contributors

Miranda Campbell

Miranda Campbell is an assistant professor in the School of Creative Industries at Ryerson University. Her research focuses on creative employment, youth culture, and emerging and small-scale forms of creative practice. Her book, Out of the Basement: Youth Cultural Production in Practice and in Policy, was shortlisted for the 2014 Donner Prize for the Best Public Policy Book by a Canadian.