UK’s performing arts industry ‘inhospitable to parents’, research warns | Theatre

The performing arts industry in the UK is “inhospitable to parents” and lags far behind other industries in supporting women with children, the research found.

The report, titled “The motherhood penalty”, criticizes the industry for not considering how to adapt to better accommodate parents, with the result that many people, especially women, are dropping out of school.

Its author, playwright Jennifer Tuckett, said: “Caring responsibilities were one of the key issues affecting women’s careers in the arts.

“We were shocked to encounter issues such as programs being sent out the night before and the impact this had on parents, and we urge both arts organizations and policy makers to look at new models that support both women and men to achieve success in the workplace and at home.”

Actor Gemma Arterton, who participated in the research, said “long working hours, lack of flexibility and the need to travel without support” were familiar problems for women and mothers in the industry.

Tuckett added that potential solutions include initial meetings to discuss needs, sending schedules out earlier, greater flexibility and targeted projects to help parents return to the workplace.

The report, which is the result of a Women in Theater research project supported by Equity and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, was based on focus groups and surveys of 10 senior industry professionals who felt the arts were essential to supporting mothers and parents.

The aim was to identify the issues and provide the basis for further research under the umbrella of two new organisations, Women in the Arts and Women in Theatre, which will also run mentoring programs and networking events.

A spokesman for Arts Council England said it built on this work by setting up a task and completion group last July to address the needs of women in the cultural sector, including glass ceilings, harassment and caring responsibilities.

“We want to promote good practice and identify tools and interventions that support working women,” she said.

Women who participated in the study emphasized that the culture of “long and late working hours” and working in the night economy was a barrier, and they felt that there was a shortage of female creative directors and editors. Some believed they were offered fewer jobs because of their connections, while others said their careers were suffering because they no longer had the time and energy to chatter and promote themselves.

One woman said she found it “increasingly difficult” to get cast after having a child, resulting in gaps in her CV that “made me undesirable, and I’ve given up on those lists” because “the industry takes care of the last job you do.”

Another woman said the arts were “way behind other industries” and were “trapped in systems of doing things that weren’t considered and were done that way because it’s always been that way,” with schedules only being sent out at the last minute and no budget for job sharing, although that was commonplace for child actors on stage.

One attendee said that on the West End show he was working on, there was no flexibility to change rehearsal start times from 10am to 10.30am to allow parents living further away to drop their children off at school.

Another said: “Touring is a must for most mothers and many women can’t sign up for eight shows a week.” He added that there is often an expectation that “everything will be canceled to accommodate an emergency.”

Arterton, who starred in Quantum of Solace and St Trinian’s, said: “It has deepened my maternal instincts and strengthened me as an artist. It sharpens your intuition, expands your emotional range and gives you a deep understanding of care, collaboration and resilience. Creative projects are richer, more thoughtful and more effective when mothers are part of shaping them.”

“I have witnessed many incredible women struggle to combine motherhood and working in the arts, with issues such as long working hours, lack of flexibility and the need to travel without supporting themselves.

“We need conscious action, structural support and accountability if we want women and mothers to pursue long and successful careers in the creative industries.”