Revenue Generated by Writers in Britain
UK Policy Documents Fall Short on Supporting Writers' Financial Stability
A new policy briefing, conducted by researchers at CREATe for the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) between February and April 2022, highlights concerns about the financial precarity and unequal income distribution in the UK writing profession. However, a search of recent UK government documents from 2025 reveals a gap in policy interventions targeted at addressing these issues.
The UK television production sector is one of Britain's leading creative export sectors, yet the recent policy documents focus mainly on education policy, workforce skills priorities, NHS workforce wellbeing, and general government evidence strategies. There is a notable absence of policies specifically addressing the financial issues and income disparities within the writing profession.
The policy briefing, led by Dr Amy Thomas, Professor Michele Battisti, and Professor Martin Kretschmer, outlines concerning trends in authors' incomes. Writing is an increasingly unequal profession, with the top 10% of earners taking home almost half of all income. Fewer authors now earn their entire income from writing alone, suggesting this is becoming an unsustainable career path.
The policy briefing also discusses pressures to consolidate in the UK television production sector and proposes policy interventions to sustain and diversify the writing profession. Their recommendations include establishing codes of conduct for publishers, strengthening copyright law to benefit creators, building authors' legal knowledge through training, and targeted changes to tax and social security provisions.
Implementing some of these proposed reforms could level the playing field between authors and publishers, empowering more people to sustain writing careers. The policy briefing sets out areas for possible policy action for authors' earnings in the UK, providing an evidence base to inform policy decisions that would strengthen the health of the UK's writing ecosystem.
Historically, policy discussions in the UK concerning the creative and writing professions have highlighted proposals such as grants, subsidies, public funding for literary fellowships and residencies, enforcing fair contracts with publishers, and expanding initiatives for diverse voices. Some cultural policy advocates propose mechanisms such as living wages for writers, tax relief on creative work, or publicly funded libraries and events to support the sector’s economic sustainability.
Despite these general trends and proposals, the recent 2025 documents available do not specify such measures. It is essential for the UK government to address the financial precarity and income inequality faced by writers to ensure the sustainability and diversity of the writing profession in the UK.
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- The Writing Framework (2025), UK Department for Education, link
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- The government’s Evidence and Evaluation Strategy (2025), UK government, link
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