National Endowment Artist Employment and Unemployment
 for the Arts

1971-1980
 Research Division 
Artist Employment and Unemployment
 

1971-1980
 

NATIONAL
 

ENDOWMENT
 

FOR THE
 

National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C. ~P, TS 
This report is produced by the Publishing
 

Center for Cultural Resources as part of a
 

pilot project supported by the NationalEndowment for the Arts demonstrating economy
 

and efficiency in nonprofit publishing.
 

The Publishing Center’s planning, production,
 

and distribution services are available to
 

all cultural and educational groups and organizations. For further information, write
 

Publishing Center for Cultural Resources,
 

625 Broadway, New York City 10012 or telephone 212/260-2010.
 

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 

Artist employment and unemployment 1971-1980.
 

(Reports in the National Endowment for the
 

Arts Research Division series ; 16)
 

Supt. of Docs. no.: NF 2.12:16
 

i. Artists--Employment--United States.
 

I. National Endowment for the Arts. II. Series:
 

Research Division report (National Endowment for
 

the Arts. Research Division) ; 16.
 

NX504.E4 331.12’517’00973 82-600003
 

ISBN 0-89062-135-7 AACR2
 

Manufactured in the United States of America.
 
 

 

CONTENTS
 

PREFACE / 4
 

LIST OF TABLES / 5
 

LIST OF FIGURES / 5
 

INTRODUCTION / 6
 

1971-80 HIGHLIGHTS / 7
 

GROWTH OF THE ARTIST LABOR FORCE / 9
 

MALE-FEMALE COMPOSITION / ii
 

UNEMPLOYMENT / 13
 

OCCUPATIONAL OVERVIEWS / 13
 

Actors 14
 

Architects 16
 

Authors 18
 

Dancers 20
 

Designers 22
 

Musicians and composers 24
 

Painters and sculptors 26
 

Photographers 28
 

Radio-TV announcers 30
 

Teachers of art, drama, and music in higher education 32
 

APPENDICES / 35
 

APPENDIX A
 

DETAILED TABLES / 36
 

APPENDIX B
 

RELIABILITY OF CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY (CPS) STATISTICS / 40
 

CUR]~NT POPULATION SURVEY (CPS) AS A SOURCE OF ARTIST OCCUPATION DATA / 42
 

REPORTS IN THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS RESEARCH DIVISION SERIES / 43
 
PREFACE
 

This report examines employment and unemployment in ten artist occupations during
 

the decade of the 1970s as reported in the
 

Current Population Survey. The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a nationwide monthly sample of approximately 60,000 households
 

conducted by the Bureau of the Census for
 

the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Based on
 

the responses to this survey, employment in
 

over 400 detailed occupations, including a
 

number of artist occupations, is reported
 

annually. Since the entire sample is asked
 

to respond to the same set of occupational
 

questions, the CPS provides estimates of
 

employment in artist occupations which are
 

directly comparable to those for all other
 

occupations.
 

It must be noted that because the artist
 

population makes up a small portion of the
 

U.S. population only a small number of artists are included in the CPS sample. This
 

limits the statistical reliability, of
 

course. The national census conducted once
 

every ten years includes a much greater
 

number of artists and therefore the statistical reliability is much better for the
 

census years. Analysis of change in the
 

artist labor force and employment based on
 

the 1970 and 1980 census is planned by the
 

Research Division when the 1980 census data
 

become available (approximately 1983).
 

Meanwhile, the CPS figures tell a great
 

deal about artists in the U.S. labor force
 

if they are examined with an understanding
 

of their limitations.
 

Research Division Report #i, Employment and
 

Unemployment of Artists: 1970-1975 also included CPS estimates of artist employment
 

and unemployment; and, beginning in February 1976, the Division presented annual artist employment figures based on the CPS
 

to the National Council on the Arts. Both
 

Report #i and the annual employment figures
 

were accompanied by "standard error" estimates to indicate data reliability and the
 

same information appears in Appendix B of
 

this report. Wherever possible the CPS data have been compared with relevant data
 

from other sources to confirm or help explain the tendencies that they show.
 

Several persons provided technical assistance in the preparation of this report.
 

Among them are Diane Ellis, a consultant
 

to the Research Division, and Robert Bednarzik and John Stinson of the Bureau of
 

Labor Statistics.
 

Research Division
 

National Endowment for the Arts
 

January 1982
 
LIST OF TABLES
 

1 Labor force levels in artist occupations by sex 1971 and 1980 /page 8
 

2 Labor force levels in artist occupations by sex 1971-80 /page 36
 

3 Labor force, employment, and unemployment in artist occupations 1971-80 /page 38
 

4 Standard errors and confidence intervals for artist labor force, employment,
 

and unemployment 1980 /page 41
 

LIST OF FIGURES
 

I Women as a percentage of labor force in artist occupations 1971 and 1980 /page i0
 

II Unemployment range in artist occupations 1971-80 /page 12
 

XX Teachers of art, drama, and music in higher education:
 

XXI Teachers of art, drama, and music in higher education:
 

III Actors: employment trends 1971-80 /page 14
 

IV Actors: unemployment rate 1971-80 /page 15
 

V Architects: employment trends 1971-80 /page 16
 

VI Architects: unemployment rate 1971-80 /page 17
 

VII Authors: employment trends 1971-80 /page 18
 

VIII Authors: unemployment rate 1971-80 /page 19
 

IX Dancers: employment trends 1971-80 /page 20
 

X Designers: employment trends 1971-80 /page 22
 

XI Designers: unemployment rate 1971-80 /page 23
 

XII Musicians and composers: employment trends 1971-80 /page 24
 

XIII Musicians and composers: unemployment rate 1971-80 /page 25
 

XIV Painters and sculptors: employment trends 1971-80 /page 26
 

XV Painters and sculptors: unemployment rate 1971-80 /page 27
 

XVI Photographers: employment trends 1971-80 /page 28
 

XVI I Photographers: unemployment rate 1971-80 /page 29
 

XVIII Radio-TV announcers: employment trends 1971-80 /page 30
 

XIX Radio-TV announcers: unemployment rate 1971-80 /page 31
 

employment trends 1971-80 /page 32
 

unemployment rate 1971-80 /page 33
 
INTRODUCTION
 

Changes in the employment and unemployment
 

of artists from 1971 to 1980 is the topic
 

of this report. Like people in other occupations, artists depend on the overall
 

health of the national economy in maintaining gainful employment. In times of recession, unemployment in many types of artist
 

occupations increases. The 1973-75 recession caused a downturn in artist employment, but when the decade of the 1970s ended employment levels were relatively high
 

in most artist occupations.
 

The term artist as used in this report includes people in the following occupational categories as listed in the U.S. Bureau
 

of the Census, 1970 Census of Population
 

Classified Index of Industries and Occupations:
 

Actors
 

Architects
 

Authors
 

Dancers
 

Designers
 

Musicians and compos@rs
 

Painters and sculptors
 

Photographers
 

Radio and television announcers
 

Teachers of art, drama, and music in
 

higher education
 

Other artists not elsewhere classified
 

This differs from the broader Bureau of
 

the Census classification of "writers, artists, and entertainers" used in Research
 

Report #i, Employment and Unemployment of


Artists, 1970-1975. The latter classification included such occupations as athletes, reporters, editors, and publicity
 

writers, all of which are excluded from
 

consideration in this report.
 

The labor force of artists comprises those
 

people at least sixteen years old who were
 

employed in any of the above artist occupations and those persons previously employed
 

in artist occupations and currently seeking
 

work.
 

Employed artists are those who worked for
 

pay any time during the monthly survey
 

week, including the self-employed. A person working at more than one job is counted as an artist only if the artistic work
 

is the job at which he or she worked the
 

greatest number of hours.
 

Unemployed artists are those who did not
 

work during the survey week but were available for work and had looked for work within the preceding four weeks.
 

The unemployment rate is the number of artists unemployed as a percent of the artist
 

labor force. These data do not include
 

such people with artists’ skills who are
 

not in the labor force as retired persons,
 

those not working while in school, those
 

working without pay, and those not seeking
 

work because of personal or job market
 

factors. Unemployment rates for dancers
 

could not be reliably calculated from CPS
 

data because of the small number of persons
 

in this occupation in the sample and are
 

omitted from this report.
 
1971-80 HIGHLIGHTS
 

 ̄ There are now over a million persons in
 

the artist labor force. Figures for 1980
 

show that 1,020,000 people identified themselves as employed or unemployed actors;
 

architects; authors; dancers; designers;
 

musicians/composers; painters/sculptors;
 

photographers; radio-TV announcers; teachers of art, drama, and music in higher
 

education; and other artists not elsewhere classified.
 

 ̄ The artist labor force grew steadily
 

from 1971 to 1980 and increased by 323,000
 

persons or 46%. This is a higher rate of
 

increase than the rate for all professional and technical workers, which was 40% in
 

the same period.
 

 ̄ Authors increased their numbers at a higher rate than any other artist occupation.
 

They grew from 33,000 to about 71,000.
 

This is an increase of 115%. Radio-TV announcers were the only artists whose number declined.
 

 ̄ Painters/sculptors and designers are now
 

the largest artist occupation groups, with
 

nearly 200,000 members each. Although musicians/composers was the second largest
 

artist group in 1971, this occupation
 

dropped to third place by 1980, with 153,000
 

members reflecting a comparatively modest
 

growth over the decade of 21%.
 

 ̄ The artist labor force is now about one-


third female and two-thirds male as a result of women entering artist occupations
 

at twice the rate of men during the decade
 

of the 1970s. There are now two artist occupations which have a majority of females:
 

dancers and painters/sculptors. In 1971,
 

this was only the case for dancers.
 

 ̄ Unemployment rates for artists were generally lower at the end of the decade than
 

at the beginning. Unemployment was greatest during the year 1975.
 

 ̄ Unemployment rates were higher among artists than among all professional and technical workers--the broad labor force group
 

winh training levels most comparable to artists. In 1980, artists averaged 4.1% unemployment compared with 2.5% for all professional and technical workers.
 

 ̄ The most chronic artist unemployment existed among actors, with rates during the
 

decade ranging between 31% and 48%. As
 

many as i0,000 actors were out of work in
 

19’79. Their unemployment rate is about
 

nine times greater than the average for
 

the other artist occupations.
 

7 c- o
 
Table 1	 Labor force levels in artist occupations 

by sex 1971 and 1980 

Labor force
 

1980
 

i1,416,000 16,008,000
 

6,933,000 8,869,000
 

4,483,000 7,137,000
 

23,000
 

14,000
 

9,000
 

92,000
 

86,000
 

6,000
 

71,000
 

41,000
 

31,000
 

12,000
 

2,000


i0,000
 

198,000
 

139,000
 

60,000
 

153,000
 

108,000
 

44,000
 

199,000
 

97,000


101,000 

i14,000
 

90,000
 

24,000
 

19,000
 

14,000
 

5,000
 

37,000
 

19,000
 

18,000
 

102,000
 

68,000
 

34,000
 

1,020,000
 

678,000
 

342,000
 

Note: Male plus female labor force may not equal occupation
 

total due to rounding.
 

* Category has labor force under 10,000; data base is
 

too small for estimate.
 

** Art, drama, and music.
 
GROWTH OF THE ARTIST LABOR FORCE
 

During the 1970s decade the artist labor
 

force in the United States increased by
 

about 323,000 persons. In 1971 there were
 

697,000 persons in the occupations of actors; architects; authors; dancers; designers; musicians/composers; painters/sculptors; photographers; radio-TV announcers;
 

teachers of arts, drama, and music in higher education; and other artist occupations
 

not elsewhere classified. By 1980, this
 

number increased to about 1,020,000. This
 

is a 46% increase between 1971 and 1980.
 

The growth of the labor force for all professional and technical workers was 40% in
 

the same period.
 

The number of authors led the 1970s artist
 

labor force increase in percentage terms;
 

it more than doubled, rising from 33,000
 

in 1971 to 71,000 in 1980. Other artist
 

occupations which increased more than the
 

average were designers and painters/sculptors, which grew by 92,000 and 69,000 respectively. By 1980, they were also the
 

two largest artist occupations, with about
 

200,000 workers each.
 

The radio-TV announcer occupation was the
 

only one to decrease in overall labor force
 

size. There were 32% fewer announcers in
 

1980 than there were in 1971. Table 1
 

shows the changes in labor force size for
 

all artist occupations between 1971 and
 

1980.
 
Figure I Women as a percentage of labor force in artist occupations

1971 and 1980 
MALE-FEMALE COMPOSITION
 

The 1970s also brought changes in the male-


female composition of the artist labor
 

force. As in most professions, the proportion of females increased. In 1971, women
 

accounted for 28% of the artist labor force;
 

by 1980 they represented 34%, making the
 

composition about one-third female and two-


thirds male. Women are not as well represented in the artist occupations, however,
 

as they are in the total professional population, which is now 45% female. The dancer occupation continues to have the highest proportion of women (83%) and the architect occupation continues to have the
 

lowest (7%). Figure I illustrates the
 

change in the percentage of female artists
 

in each artist occupation between 1971 and
 

1980.
 

The greatest change in male-female composition occurred among painters/sculptors and
 

teachers of art, drama, and music in higher education. In 1980 the number of female
 

painters/sculptors surpassed the number of
 

men for the first time, having grown proportionately from 37% to 51% in 1980. The
 

proportion of women also increased substantially among teachers of art, drama, and
 

music, who now include about equal numbers
 

of males and females.
 

The proportion of women declined among composers and marginally (not to a statistically significant degree) among dancers
 

and actors. The decrease in the percentage of women musician/composers is probably
 

a result of economic conditions during the
 

1970s, when their high unemployment rate
 

coupled with slow growth in the musicians/
 

composers labor force made it especially
 

difficult for people entering this occupation.
 

Overall, there was a closer balance between
 

the number of males and females in artist
 

occupations in 1980 than in 1971.
 

Ii
 
Figure II Unemployment range in artist occupations 1971-80 
UNEMPLOYMENT
 

During the 1971-80 decade, artists had higher rates of unemployment than the total of
 

all professional and technical workers,
 

among whom unemployment averaged 2.7%. Unemployment was particularly severe for actors. Of approximately 23,000 actors reported in the 1980 labor force about 8,000
 

were without jobs, representing an unemployment rate of 35%. No other artist occupation had an unemployment rate approaching
 

this figure, and the average for artists
 

in occupations other than acting in 1980
 

was 3.4%. Because of wide variations in
 

labor force size and employment levels, it
 

is important to examine each artist occupation separately. In general, however, artist unemployment rates were highest in 1975
 

and 1976, lowest in the 1972-73 period and
 

again in 1978-79. This corresponds to the
 

recession-recovery cycle for the general
 

economy during the decade. However, unemployment rates for artists fluctuated more
 

from year to year than the rates for all
 

professional and technical workers, suggesting that employment may be more volatile in
 

artist occupations. The range of artist
 

employment is shown in Figure II.
 

OCCUPATIONAL OVERVIEWS
 

Employment figures for the total artist population obscure the many variations among
 

the individual artist occupations. Although most of the artist groups experienced
 

growth of labor force in 1971-80 and most
 

had higher than average unemployment during
 

recession, considerable variation existed.
 

Growth and employment levels in some artist
 

occupations, particularly in the performing
 

arts, were more seriously affected by national economic reverses than other artist
 

occupations. The trend for each artist occupation between 1971 and 1980 is presented in Figures III-XXI on the following pages.
 

13 
Figure III Actors: employment trends 1971-80 
The employment situation was bleak for actors throughout the 1970s. At the beginning of the decade, nearly half of all actors were out of work. While unemployment
 

dropped to 31% by 1976, it rose again to over
 

35% by 1979-80. Poor employment prospects
 

probably contributed to the slow growth in
 

the actor labor force over the decade. The
 

actor labor force, which peaked in 1978 at
 

30,000, declined to about 23,000 by 1980.
 

Figure IV Actors: unemployment rate 1971-80 

- 501 

45% 

40% 

351 

30t 

25t 

201 

15% 

10% 

51 

1971 72 

’ ! 

1973 

’ I 

1975 

I 

1976 

! 

1977" 

I 

].978 1979 

Ot 

1980 

15
 
Figure V Architects: employment trends 1971-80 

84,000 

71,000
 70,000
 69,000
 

66,000
 

63,000
 

58,000
 

Employed + Unemployed = Labor force
 

16
 
The architect occupation tends to be sensitive to the ups and downs of the general
 

economy. Unemployment peaked at 5.4% at the
 

height of the 1974-75 recession. A sharp
 

decline in the number of architects working
 

or seeking work followed, so that there
 

were fewer persons in the architect labor
 

force in 1977 than in 1971. However, more
 

than 30,000 persons (representing a 50%
 

increase in the labor force) entered or
 

reentered architect occupations between
 

1977 and 1980, and notwithstanding this
 

growth, at the end of the decade the unemployment rate of 1.7% was one of the
 

lowest for artists.
 

Figure Vl Architects: unemployment rate 1971-80 

o% 

17 
Figure VII Authors: employment trends 1971-80 

55,000
 

53,000
 

47,000
 

45,000
 

38,000
 

30,000
 

Employed + Unemployed = Labor force
 

18
 
The author labor force grew faster than any
 

other artist occupation during the1970s-­

increasing its number by 115%. Although
 

the unemployment rate was relatively high,
 

6% in 1971, it dropped gradually to le{s
 

than 2% at the end of the decade. The
 

1974-75 recession had only n~derate effect
 

on work prospects--with unemployment increasing to only 3.6% in 1975. This was
 

lower than the recession unemployment rate
 

for most other artist occupations, probably
 

reflecting the high frequency of self-employment among authors.
 

Figure VIII Authors: unemployment rate 1971-80 

I 

L971 

I 

1972 

I 

1973 

I 

1975 

I 

1976 

i 

1977 

I 

1978 

1 

1979 

-lO% 

8% 

6t 

4% 

2% 

ot 

198o 

19
 
Figure IX Dancers: employment trends 1971-80
 

2O
 
The number of dancers in the labor force
 

fluctuated considerably throughout the
 

decade (reflecting in part the higher
 

degree of error associated with the small
 

number of dancers in the sample) but moved
 

up steadily in the latter half and reached
 

12,000 by 1980. Unemployment rates are
 

not available through the use of the CPS
 

data because the total number of dancers
 

is so small. Too few dancers are represented in the survey sample to permit dependable unemployment estimates.
 

21 
Figure X Designers: employment trends 1971-80 

179,000 

161,000 

146,000 

142,000 

123,000 125,000 

ii0,000 

99,000 

Employed + Unemployed = Labor force
 

22
 
Designers had steady labor force gains every year from 1971 to 1980, increasing their
 

numbers by a substantial 87% over the decade. By 1980 there were about 200,000designers in the labor force. Unemployment
 

was relatively low during most of the period but, like most other professions, designers were affected by the 1974-75 recession which caused a tripling of their
 

unemployment rate to 7.6% in 1975. Designers’ employment, however, bounced back in
 

1976 and by 1980 only 2.6% of designers
 

were out of work.
 

Figure XI Designers: unemployment rate 1971-80 

23
 

10%
 

8% 

6% 

4% 

2% 

0%
 

1979 1980 
Figure XII Musicians and composers: employment trends 1971-80 

150,000 149,000 

140,000 139,000 

145,000 

143,000 

121,000 120,000 

Employed + Unemployed = Labor force
 

24
 
Employment prospects seemed good for musicians and composers in the early 1970s.
 

Despite substantial growth in the labor
 

force, unemployment was less than 4% in
 

1974. The recession affected this picture
 

dramatically, however, and musicians and
 

composers have never really recovered from
 

its impact. The unemployment rate, which
 

exceeded 9% in 1976, remained a high 6.2%
 

in 1980. The decreased unemployment rate
 

reflected a smaller number of job-seekers
 

rather than growth of those employed. The
 

number of employed musicians and composers,
 

which declined by ii,000 between 1977 and
 

1980, suggests that many abandoned the
 

field.
 

Figure XIII Musicians and composers: unemployment rate 1971-80 

25
 
Figure XIV Painters and sculptors: employment trends 1971-80 

189,000 

186,000 

177,000 

153,000 

146,000 

136,000 

129,000 

125,000 

Employed + Unemployed = Labor force
 

26
 
Painters and sculptors are the largest artist occupation group, with about 200,000
 

members in 1980 reflecting steady labor
 

force gains throughout the decade. Painters
 

and sculptors suffered only moderate employment setbacks from the mid-decade recession, possibly because of relatively
 

high self-employment. The number of employed painters and sculptors decreased
 

by 3,000 in 1975 and the rate of unemployment reached 6.5% the following year, but
 

they recovered these losses in 1977 and
 

subsequently grew through the end of the
 

decade.
 

Figure XV Painters and sculptors: unemployment rate 1971-80 

1971 I1297 1973 ! 1974 ! 19 ?5 | I 

1976 1977 

i 

1978 

I 

1979 

lO% 

8% 

6% 

4% 

2% 

0% 

1981 

27
 
Figure XVI Photographers: employment trends 1971-80 

107,000 

93,000 

81,000 

76,000 

Employed + Unemployed = Labor force
 

28
 
Photographer employment and labor force levels fluctuated throughout most of the decade. The photographer labor force dropped
 

between 1971 and 1973, then rose through
 

1976, dropped in 1977, and then made substantial gains. The 1974-75 recession undoubtedly played an important role in this
 

fluctuation; unemployment, which peaked at
 

about 6.6% in 1975-76, could have discouraged prospective entrants into the field.
 

At the end of the 1970s, photographer employment is healthy, with 33,000 more photographers than in 1971 and an unemployment rate of only 2.8%.
 

Figure XVII Photographers: unemployment rate 1971-80 

8% 

2% 

29
 
Figure XVIII Radio-TV announcers: employment trends 1971-80 
This was the only artist labor force that
 

decreased during the 1970s, with 28,000
 

members dropping to about 19,000 by 1980
 

(a net loss of 32%). There was some fluctuation in numbers--loss in the early part
 

of the decade, growth in the middle, and
 

renewed loss from 1976 to 1980. Because
 

many radio-TV announcers apparently abandoned the field, the unemployment rate for
 

this occupation was low toward the end of
 

the decade--amounting to less than 1% in
 

1980 in contrast with the 9.8% unemployment
 

rate of 1971.
 

Figure XIX Radio-TV announcers: unemployment rate 1971-80 

*Not plottedbecause unemployment level below 500 persons. 

-lO% 

8% 

6% 

1977 

! 

1979 

2% 

0% 

1980 

31
 
Figure XX Teachers of art, drama, and music in higher education: employment trends 197’1-80 

41,000
 

39 000
 38,000
 

36,000
 

35,000
 34,000
 

30,000
 29,000
 

Employed + Unemployed = Labor force
 

32
 
 

The labor force for this occupation group
 

made only a moderate gain of 28% during the
 

1970s. The labor force grew substantially
 

during the 1971-78 period, numbering as
 

many as 45,000 in 1978, but dropped to about 37,000 between 1978 and 1980, probably
 

as the result of general decline in enrollments at colleges and universities. Most
 

of the 8,000 former teachers found work in
 

other occupations or dropped out of the
 

labor force entirely because they fail to
 

figure in teacher unemployment totals. In
 

general, employment was high for this group
 

during the decade, with unemployment peaking at slightly more than 5% in 1977 (probably reflecting an oversupply that presaged
 

the declines of 1978-80) and down to 2.5%
 

by 1980.
 

Figure XXI Teachers of art, drama, and music in higher education : unemployment rate 1971-80 

* NOt plotted because ~loyment level below 5
 

8% 

6% 

4% 

2% 

t ! I I o%

1971" 1972" 1973" 1974" 1977 1978 1979 198 

33
 
 

 

APPENDICES
 

APPENDIX A
 

DETAILED TABLES
 

APPENDIX B
 

RELIABILITY OF CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY (CPS)
 

STATISTICS
 

CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY (CPS) AS A SOURCE
 

OF ARTIST OCCUPATION DATA
 

35
 
 

APPENDIX A
 

DETAILED TABLES (2 AND 3)
 

Table 2 Labor force levels in artist occupations by sex 1971-80 

1971 1973 1975 

11,416,000 

6,933,000

4,483,000 

12,037,000 

7,186,000 

4,852,000 

13,173,000 

7,700,000 

5,474,000 

19,000 16,000 20,000 

11,000 

8,000 

7,000 

8,000 

13,000 

7,000 

70,000 74,000 74,000 

67,000 

3,000 

72,000 

2,000 

71,000 

3,000 

33,000 39,000 47,000 

21,000 

12,000 

18,000 

20,000 

26,000 

20,000 

i0,000 i0,000 8,000 

1,000 3,000 3,000 

9,000 7,000 5,000 

106,000 

78,000 

28,000 

125,000

98,000 

27,000 

135,000 

103,000 

34,000 

126,000 

82,000 

45,000 

129,000 

88,000 

41,000 

151,000 

104,000 

47,000 

130,000 

82,000 

48,000 

141,000 

80,000 

60,000 

155,000 

84,000 

72,000 

81,000 

67,000 

13,000 

76,000 

63,000 

13,000 

81,000 

67,000 

14,000 

28,000 

25,000 

19,000 

18,000 

24,000 

22,000 

1,000 1,000 2,000 

29,000 

20,000 

9,000 

34,000 

22,000 

11,000 

39,000 

22,000 

17,000 

65,000 

48,000 

16,000 

74,000 

47,000 

27,000 

89,000 

58,000 

30,000 

697,000 

504,000 

192,000 

737,000 

516,000 

217,000 

823,000 

573,000 

251,000 

Note: Male plus female labor force may not equal occupation total due to rounding.
 

* Art, drama, and music.
 
1977
 

14,118,000
 

3,044,000
 

6,074,000
 

21,000
 

12,000
 

i0,000
 

60,000
 

58,000
 

3,000
 

49,000
 

31,000
 

19,000
 

9,000
 

3,000
 

5,000
 

151,000
 

115,000
 

37,000
 

167,000
 

117,000
 

50,000
 

183,000
 

i01,000
 

83,000
 

86,000
 

73,000
 

13,000
 

26,000
 

23,000
 

3,000
 

43,000
 

28,000
 

15,000
 

83,000
 

52,000
 

30,000
 

878,000
 

613,000
 

268,000
 

1979
 

15,422,000
 

8,692,000
 

6,740,000
 

28,000
 

16,000
 

12,000
 

85,000
 

79,000
 

5,000
 

56,000
 

30,000
 

26,000
 

i0,000
 

2,000
 

8,000
 

184,000
 

131,000
 

53,000
 

154,000
 

i01,000
 

53,000
 

193,000
 

105,000
 

89,000
 

iii,000
 

86,000
 

24,000
 

18,000
 

15,000
 

3,000
 

39,000
 

25,000
 

14,000
 

90,000
 

57,000
 

33,000
 

969,000
 

647,000
 

320,000
 

37 
Table 3	 Labor force, employment, and unemployment in artist occupations 1971-80 

1971
 

11,416,000
 

ii,085,000
 

331,000
 

2.9%
 

19,000
 

10,000
 

9,000
 

47.5%
 

70,000
 

69,000


1,000
 

1.0%
 

33,000
 

31,000
 

2,000
 

6.0%
 

i0,000
 

7,000
 

3,000
 

106,000
 

99,000
 

7,000
 

6.2%
 

126,000
 

116,000
 

10,000
 

7.7%
 

130,000
 

125,000


5,000
 

3.7%
 

81,000
 

77,000
 

4,000
 

4.4%
 

28,000
 

25,000
 

3,000
 

9.8%
 

29,000
 

29,000
 

*
 

*
 

65,000
 

60,000


5,000
 

7.4%
 

69’7,000
 

648,000
 

49,000
 

7 0%
 

1973
 

12,037,000
 

ii,777,000
 

260,000
 

2.2%
 

16,000
 

9,000
 

7,000
 

45.1%
 

74,000
 

73,000


1,000
 

1.9%
 

39,000
 

38,000
 

1,000
 

1.7%
 

i0,000
 

8,000
 

2,000
 

125,000
 

123,000
 

2,000
 

1.8%
 

129,000
 

120,000
 

9,000
 

7.2%
 

141,000
 

136,000


5,000
 

3.5%
 

76,000
 

75,000
 

1,000
 

1.7%
 

19,000
 

18,000
 

1,000
 

5.7%
 

34,000
 

34,000
 

*
 

*
 

74,000
 

72,000
 

2,000
 

2.9%
 

737,000
 

706,000
 

31,000
 

4.4%
 

1975
 

13,173,000
 

12,748,000
 

425,000
 

3.2%
 

20,000
 

13,000
 

7,000
 

34.8%
 

74,000
 

70,000


4,000
 

5.4%
 

47,000
 

45,000
 

2,000
 

3.6%
 

8,000
 

6,000
 

2,000
 

135,000
 

125,000
 

10,000
 

7.6%
 

151,000
 

139,000
 

12,000
 

7.7%
 

155,000
 

146,000


9,000
 

5.9%
 

81,000
 

76,000
 

5,000
 

6.5%
 

24,000
 

22,000
 

2,000
 

8.7%
 

39,U00
 

38,000
 

1,000
 

2.9%
 

89,000
 

84,000
 

5,000
 

5.2%
 

823,000
 

764,000
 

59,000
 

7.2%
 

Note: Employed plus unemployed may not equal occupation total due to rounding. Unemployment rates are
 

computed based on unrounded estimates of the unemployment and labor force levels.
 

*	 Data base is too small to provide a meaningful estimate (labor force of 10,000 or less;
 

unemployment level below 500).
 

** Art, drama, and music.
 
3-3,692,000 :~i


426,000
 

3.0~
 

21,000
 

13,000
 

8,0 O0
 

6 o, 000 ~ ~o
 

58,000

2, ooo 

4 9, o o o

47,000

2,000 

9,000


s, o o o ;:


1, ooo
 ,
 

5, ooo 

3-6 7, ooo 3-54, ooo 

13,000 

~. 8 

~ 8 3, o o o 

3-77, ooo 6, ooo 

3.5
 

86,ooo

83-, oo o 5,ooo 

26,000
 

25,000
 

i, 000


4.6 

43,000
 

43.,000
 

2,000
 

5. i
 

83,000
 

7 8,0 0 0

5, ooo
 

6.6 

878,000
 

828,000
 

50,000
 

15,049,000


373,000


2.4~
 

28,000
 

18,000
 

1o, ooo
 

85,000


54,ooo

1, ooo
 

56,000
 

55,000


i, 0 0 0


2.6~ 

lO, o o o 

9,000

1, oo o 

84, ooo 

79, ooo

5, ooo
 

2.6%
 

9, ooo 

6.1~ 

193,000 

3-89,000
 

4,000
 

2.0%
 

Iii,000
 

107,000
 4, ooo 

3.3%
 

3-9,000 

18,000
 

1,000
 

4.2%
 

38,000 

1, ooo
 

3.0%
 

9 O, 000
 86, ooo 

4,000 

4.5%
 

41, ooo 

4.2 %
 

39 
 

APPENDIX B
 

RELIABILITY OF CURRENT POPULATION
 

SURVEY (CPS9 STATISTICS
 

The data in this report are based on responses obtained from the Current Population
 

Survey which collects information from a
 

representative sample rather than from every person in the nation. The statistics
 

are therefore subject to sampling error, or
 

sampling variability as it is also known.
 

Precise measure of sampling error calls for
 

comparison of the figure obtained from a
 

complete count or census with one arrived
 

at from a sample. Since this is not possible, a "standard error" representing the
 

average deviation of all possible samples
 

is generally used as indication of how well
 

an estimate from a sample approximates a
 

complete count. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes standard error tables
 

from which figures relevant to the artist
 

occupation samples can be extracted.
 

Sampling variability occurs in both directions, plus and minus, and small errors occur more often than larger errors, so that
 

about 68% of the time, variability will be
 

less than the standard error. About 90%
 

of the time, the figure based on a complete
 

count would be in the range of plus or minus 1.6 times the standard error of the
 

estimate. The term "confidence interval"
 

is used to designate such levels of probability. The range from the standard error below the estimate to the standard
 

error above it is called the 68% confidence
 

interval. The range from 1.6 times the
 

standard error below the estimate to 1.6
 

times the standard error above it is called
 

the 90% confidence interval.
 

Table 4 provides the standard error and 68%
 

and 90% confidence intervals for labor
 

force, employment, and unemployment estimates for each of the artist occupations in
 

1980. Designers, for example, had an estimated labor force of 198,000 in 1980. The
 

standard error for this estimate was 13,000.
 

Thus, the actual number in the designer labor force has a 68% probability of being
 

somewhere between 185,000 and 211,000.
 

There is a 90% probability that the number
 

is somewhere between 177,000 and 219,000
 

(198,000 plus and minus 1.6 times 13,000).
 

Many of the estimates for artist occupations shown in Table 4 have large standard
 

errors relative to the size of the estimate.
 

The small 12,000 labor force estimate for
 

dancers has a 3,000 standard error~r 25%
 

of the estimate; and even at the other extreme, the standard error for 199,000 estimated painters/sculptors is 13,000 or
 

almost 7%. Because these sampling errors
 

are so large relative to the standard error of less than 1% for all professional
 

and technical workers, this report focuses
 

on the differing labor force sizes among
 

the occupations and the long term (overthe-decade) trends. This analytic approach
 

is considered to be the best when using data with relatively high sampling errors.
 

Bureau of the Census Technical Paper 32,
 

Standards for Discussion and Presentation
 

of Errors in Data, states that"...estimates
 

that are subject to large relative sampling
 

errors frequently are small and the fact
 

that the estimate is small is often sufficient information to be meaningful." Similarly, "The Analysis of Labor Statistics,"
 

available from the Branch of International
 

Training, Bureau of Labor Statistics (mimeographed, revised 1979), notes that the
 

analyst who observes consistent decline
 

in successive months "may discern that
 

there is an overall trend developing, even
 

though the change from month to month is
 

not significant (greater than the standar~
 

error) . "
 

4O
 
Table 4 Standard errors and confidence intervals for artist labor force, 

employment, and unemployment 1980 

68% confidence 

interval 

(range) 

15,613,000 395,000 2.5% 

15,494,000-15,732,000 376,000-414,000 2.4-2.6% 3SS 000 41S~oo~ 

18,000-28,000 

ii, 000-19,000

5, O00-11, o00 

25.6-45.2% 

92,000 

9 O, 0 0 0 2, o o o 

83,000-101,000 

8 i, 0 0 O- 9 9,0 0 0 1 o o o- 3, o o o 

1.7% .4-3.0% 

63,000-79,000 

62,000-78,000 0oo 

1.9% .3-3.5% 

12,000 

i O, 000 2, o o o ~oo 

9,000-15,000 

7,00 O- 13,000 o- 3, o o o ~ ~i~ ~000 

198,000 185,000-211,000 

193,000 

5,000 180,000-196,000 

3,000-7,000 

1.3-3.9% 

153,000 143, ooo 141,000-165,000 

132,000-154,000 

7,000-13,000 

4.1-8.3% 

186,000-212,000 

182,000-208,000 

2,000-6,000 

1.0-3.4% 

114,000 

Iii,000 104,000-124,000 ..... ~: 

101,000-121,000 

1,000-5,000 .... 

1.3-4.1% 

15,000-23,000 

19,000 15,000-23,000 , 

37,000 

36,000 

31,000-4 3,000 

30,000-42,000 

1,000

2.5 % 0-2,000

o- 5. o % 

102,000 96,000 

6,000

6.o% i,, 

92,000-112,000

87,00 o- 105,000 

4,000-8,000 

3.7-8.3% 

* Unemployment rates and levels are not shown where unemployment is estimated to be below 500.
 

** Art, drama, and music.
 

41
 
CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY (CPS) AS A
 

SOURCE OF ARTIST OCCUPATION DATA
 

The Current Population Survey is a 60,000­

household general population survey that
 

is conducted monthly by the Bureau of the
 

Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
 

Its primary function is to provide the
 

information necessary to compute national
 

employment and unemployment statistics.
 

Because comparatively specific questions about the respondent’s occupation are included in the survey, it is possible to derive
 

employment and unemployment statistics for
 

each occupation coded by the Census Bureau.
 

Information about the major occupation
 

groupings is published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while data on
 

smaller, more closely defined, occupational categories are issued annually. The annual figures for 1971 through 1980 are used
 

in this report.
 

The two major advantages CPS offers as a
 

source of information about artists are:
 

I. National estimates for several characteristics of artist occupations which
 

are directly comparable to the estimates
 

for other occupations (because the surve~
 

which uses a nationally representative
 

sample, asks similar questions of all respondents).
 

2. Regular periodic collection of data
 

which may be used for trend analysis.
 

The decennial census offers similar advantages in terms of comparability and regular
 

intervals of collection but the intervals
 

are full decades. On the other hand, the
 

vastly larger size of the decennial census
 

makes for greater data reliability. Clearly, both sources can and should be used,
 

with the decennial censuses serving as
 

benchmarks for the CPS.
 

A third source of data on artist occupations derived from a general population survey using the same questions to determine
 

the occupation of the respondents as the
 

CPS and decennial censuses is the 1976 Survey of Income and Education. This was a
 

nationally representative sample survey of
 

approximately 150,000 households. Because
 

the sample size is larger than the CPS and,
 

hence, offered statistics of greater reliability, Research Division Report #12 used
 

this survey as a "mid-decade" benchmark and
 

compared it with 1970 census results.
 

While these three sources have the advantage
 

of providing comparable national occupational statistics, they share several important
 

limitations insofar as artists are concerned. The survey questions identify only the
 

respondent’s "primary occupation" (one in
 

which the most hours are worked) rather
 

than all jobs held. Other studies indicate that many artists work simultaneously
 

in other occupations; these individuals
 

would not be counted as artists unless
 

more time was devoted to the art occupation than to a second job. Another limitation derives from the fact that the occupational classification system used by
 

the Census Bureau during the 1970s did not
 

specifically provide for some artist occupations. Because no single occupational
 

code explicitly included craft artists, for
 

example, no estimate for this population
 

can be extracted. (The 1980 census includes
 

such artists under an expanded painters
 

and sculptors code.)
 

Other data collection methods have been
 

used by the Research Division to gain perspectives on the artist population which
 

are not possible through the general population surveys. For example, in studying
 

the American craft artist population, the
 

Division contacted all known craft membership organizations to determine number of
 

members and in what media they worked.
 

(See Research Division Report #13, Craft
 

Artist Membership Organizations 1978.)


A representative sample of craft artists
 

was selected and surveyed on the basis of
 

resulting information. Concurrently, a
 

sample of craft artists was selected from
 

exhibitors at galleries and fairs andcraft
 

publication subscribers to learn about
 

affiliation (or nonaffiliation) with craft
 

membership organizations and to compare
 

member and nonmember characteristics.
 

These studies provide a basis for estimating size and characteristics of the
 

craft artist population which would not be
 

possible from general population surveys.
 

42
 
 

REPORTS IN THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR
 

THE ARTS RESEARCH DIVISION SERIES
 

Since 1976 the Research Division of the
 

National Endowment for the Arts has been
 

studying matters of interest to the arts
 

community and issuing reports based on its
 

findings. Copies of the reports may be ordered from the Publishing Center for Cultural Resources, 625 Broadway, New York
 

City 10012 at the prices noted below.
 

Checks should be made payable to "Publishing Center." Prices include postage and
 

handling; no state or local sales tax is
 

applicable.
 

#1 Employment and Unemployment of Artists:


1970-1975. 32 pages. April 1976. $2.50
 

#2 TO Survey American Crafts: A Planning
 

Study. 32 pages. July 1977. $2.50
 

#3 Understanding the Employment of Actors.
 

36 pages. September 1977. $2.00
 

#4 Arts and Cultural Programs on Radio and
 

Television. 92 pages. September 1977. $3.50
 

#5 Where Artists Live: 1970. 80 pages.
 

October 1977. $3.00
 

#6 Economic Impact of Arts and Cultural
 

Institutions: A Model for Assessment and
 

a Case Study in Baltimore. 96 pages.
 

November 1977. $3.50
 

#7 Minorities and Women in the Arts: 1970
 

32 pages. January 1978. $2.50
 

#8 The State Arts Agencies in 1974: All
 

Present and Accounted For. 160 pages.
 

April 1978. $4.50
 

#9 Audience Studies of the Performing Arts
 

and Museums: A Critical Review. 106 pages.
 

November 1978. $3.00
 

#10 Self-Employment, Migration, and Household and Family Characteristics of Artists:
 

1970. 32 pages. November 1978. $2.00
 

#ii Conditions and Needs of the Professional American Theatre. 120 pages. January 1980. ISBN 0-89062-076-8 $4.50
 

#12 Artists Compared by Age, Sex, and
 

Earnings in 1970 and 1976. 54 pages.
 

January 1980. ISBN 0-89062-077-6 $2.50
 

#13 Craft Artist Membership Organizations
 

1978. 48 pages. January 1981. ISBN
 

0-89062-089-X $2.50
 

43
 

#14 Audience Development: An Examination
 

of Selected Analysis and Prediction Techniques Applied to Symphony and Theatre Attendance in Four Southern Cities. 48
 

pages. January 1981. ISBN 0-89062-097-0


$2.5o
 

#15 Economic Impact of Arts and Cultural
 

Institutions: Case Studies in Columbus,
 

Minneapolis/St. Paul, St. Louis, Salt Lake
 

City, San Antonio, and Springfield. 102
 

pages. January 1981. ISBN 0-89062-106-3


$3.50
 

#16 Artist Employment and Unemployment
 

1971-1980. 44 pages. January 1982.
 

ISBN 0-89062-135-7 $3.00
 
Produced and distributed by Publishing Center for Cultural Resources, 625 Broadway, New York City 10012. Price (incl. postage): $3.00