There is no comprehensive legal framework for artists in Sweden; instead, the general principles for social security and taxes apply. There are several artists’ unions representing their members in labour market negotiations, which are central to the Swedish labour market model. These also function as lobbying groups with the government and the public authorities.
The average income in arts and culture is significantly lower than among persons with comparable education in other professions. Self-employed artists – who form an increasingly large part of those active in the arts and culture sector – have specific problems vis-à-vis public health insurance, pensions, and unemployment insurance, since the Swedish social security model is better adapted to employees and larger employers than to small businesses and the self-employed. Many national, regional, and private art grants and stipends to individual artists are not taxable, and thus not included in the life income that forms the basis of an individual’s pension. Together with a labour market that makes certain categories of employees in the arts and culture unemployed regularly (for example, between seasonal employment or work with projects), this makes many of those working in arts and culture financially vulnerable. This situation was part of the background for government support for intermediary employment centres within the fields of theatre, music, photography and film, for data banks, and for training facilities for professional dancers and actors during periods between job contracts.
In 2018, a government commission submitted a report on artist policy, Konstnär – oavsett vilkor? (“Artist – regardless of terms?”, SOU 2018: 23). The report describes the current conditions for professionally active artists in Sweden. According to this study, artists are increasingly working as freelancers, combining different types of projects, employment, and other sources of income, within and outside of the arts and culture sector. It concludes that current social security is not adapted to these new conditions in the arts and culture labour market. It also highlights the problem that persons with different backgrounds do not have the same opportunities to become artists, and that bias in recruitment to artistic education starts at a young age. Another issue discussed in the report is the concentration of artists in urban areas – especially the Stockholm area – making it nearly impossible to make an artistic career in large parts of the country. In 2023, a government commission report on the system for compensating employees on sick leave made specific investigations into conditions in the arts and culture sector, making recommendations on how to better integrate these into the system, e.g. by including artistic stipends in the income qualifying for compensation (SOU 2023:30).
These impressions were confirmed in a study reported by the Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis in 2025. The study covered people who have applied for grants from the Arts Grants Committee or the Writers’ Fund 2019-2022, a total of 18,228 artistic professionals. 69 per cent of the men, and 64 per cent of the women, were self-employed. The median value of the business income increased by 19 per cent for artists in 2019-2022, compared to 16 per cent among employed artists. Even though 2022 was a pandemic year, the income of artistic professionals increased. A possible explanation for this may be that in 2022 there were various supports aimed at arts and culture. The group of younger artists was significantly smaller in 2022 than in 2019, which may be because fewer artists entered the labour market during the pandemic years.
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