This article was first published by the Museums Association.
Heritage professionals have suffered “particularly sharp falls” in their earnings since 2011 and are being disproportionately hit by the cost-of-living crisis, according to the union Prospect.
A report released by the union last week found that, accounting for inflation, the average hourly pay for archivists and curators has fallen 18% from £19.75 (in today’s money) in 2011 to £16.23 in 2021.Museums Journal analysis: Are workers being priced out of heritage?
World Class Heritage: Second Class Pay report found that the average hourly pay for conservation professionals saw an even bigger drop of 25%, from £19.35 (in today’s money) in 2011 to £14.43 in 2021.
Average hourly pay for museum workers fell 9% from £14.86 (in today’s money) in 2011 to £13.49 in 2021.
The union conducted research into the salaries of recently advertised roles in the heritage sector, finding that all were below the UK national median full-time salary for 2021 of £31,285.
Some were below the independently calculated National Living Wage and London Living Wage, which currently stand at £9.90 and £11.05 per hour respectively.
The report found that one in 10 museum jobs – around 2,700 in total – paid £9.50 an hour or less, suggesting that most of these would count as officially low paid, while one in five jobs at historical sites and buildings – around 2,400 in total – paid £9.60 or less.
The only roles that didn’t see a drop in earnings were those employed in the operation of heritage sites and buildings. The report said: “As these are the lowest paid, it seems likely that this is because of the impact of rises in the statutory National Living Wage, which has pushed up earnings in the very lowest-paid occupations relative to others over the past decade.”
The report cited government austerity measures and the more recent impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as some of the reasons for falling salaries.
The union said the current cost-of-living crisis is likely to have a severe impact on the living standards of heritage workers.
It said that, under current inflation rates, a senior archaeologist earning the minimum recommended salary of £31,600 faces a fall in the real value of their salary to around £28,500, a loss of approximately £3,000.
A conservator earning a typical salary of £28,630 faces a fall of around £2,750 in the real value of their salary, while a learning volunteer earning the currently advertised salary of £25,000 faces a loss of around £2,500 to the real value of their salary.
The report said: “Even these figures understate the impact on some people, with poorer households facing effective inflations rates of up to 2% more than the headline measure because they spend a larger part of their income on items like food and fuel.”
Heritage workers staged a photocall outside the Houses of Parliament in London last week to highlight the report’s findings.
Prospect says it is calling for:
- Greater value and recognition given to heritage and heritage workers, with improved funding to address historic low pay levels and the current cost-of-living crisis
- Greater employer flexibility on pay, terms and conditions, to enable wages to better reflect skills, qualifications, knowledge and experience
- Meaningful pay progression mechanisms to ensure heritage staff can progress their careers and earnings.
Prospect’s senior deputy general secretary Sue Ferns said: “Heritage workers are the guardians of our history and culture – inadequate pay not only impacts the living standards of workers, but places British cultural heritage, education and historical research at serious risk.
“Heritage is also an important part of our economy, not only through tourism but also through for example the work of architects, facilitating major construction projects.
“Virtually every constituency in the country has some kind of museum or National Trust property that adds to and informs the character of the local area. We ask that MPs support Prospect and local heritage workers in their campaign for fair pay.”
The Museums Association is updating its salary guidelines later this year.
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