Basic Income for the Arts pilot has produced over €100 million in socio-economic benefits

The Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot has produced over €100 million in social and economic benefits, a new report has found.

The cost-benefit analysis of the pilot scheme – which the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, is publishing today – builds upon internal and external research conducted to date.

As part of the BIA pilot research programme, 2,000 artists receive €325 per week, to support their creative practice. The primary aim of the scheme is 'to help artists deal with precarious incomes and to prevent them from leaving the sector for economic reasons.'

Today's findings show that the real net fiscal cost of the BIA pilot, from 2021 to 2025, was just under €72 million.

Audience engagement with the arts generated nearly €17 million in social value over the three years, based on "willingness-to-pay estimates for cultural participation."

"The most substantial social gain came from improvements in psychological wellbeing, contributing almost €80 million to total benefits," the report reads.

The report also finds that recipients’ arts-related income increased by over €500 per month on average, while their income from non-arts work decreased by around €280.

"Dependence on social protection declined, with participants receiving €100 less per month on average, and were 38 percentage points less likely to receive Jobseeker’s payments," the analysis continues.

Reflecting on the findings, Minister Patrick O'Donovan notes that the "positive economic impact this report has revealed is a very encouraging outcome for the sector and the general public."

"The economic return on this investment in Ireland’s artists and creative arts workers is immediately having a positive impact for the sector and the economy overall," he adds.