Arts Worker Supports Issue Brief
Arts Worker Supports - Issue Brief
A summary of the public policies needed to build economic security for arts workers and microbusinesses
We worked with arts advocates to define a policy agenda that supports arts workers and microbusinesses.
In Spring/Summer of 2023, we worked with a voluntary group of arts worker advocates through the Cultural Advocacy Group to identify a set of policies needed to support the economic security of arts workers and microbusinesses. This issue brief is the result of our collective effort.
The brief summarizes the challenges people working in the arts face to access social protections, both as independent workers and microbusinesses, and outlines a series of policy reforms needed to build a safety net for all.
The brief is meant to be a resource for the field, so please feel free to use it in your own advocacy!
A Guaranteed Income for the 20th Century
A Guaranteed Income for the 20th Century
A report from The New School Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy
Naomi Zewde, Kyle Strickland, Kelly Capatosto, Ari Glogower, Darrick Hamilton
The Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy conducts research to shed light on the structures of inequality and develop knowledge about the pivotal roles of race, power, and social stratification. Building relationships beyond the academy, institute researchers work to identify, implement, and scale transformative ideas to promote economic inclusion, civic empowerment, and social equity. The institute also works to foster the next generation of scholars bringing diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and new thinking to society’s biggest challenges.
Over the past several years, the idea of establishing a minimum income floor via a Guaranteed Income has gained traction, with several pilots offering opportunities to see the benefits of these policies in action.
We support establishing a minimum income floor for all, and believe widespread adoption of the policy would make meaningful progress towards our broader vision of protections for all. However, we are not convinced by the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) that would deliver the same amount of support to everyone, regardless of their income level. Instead, we believe any guaranteed income program should seek to bring all individuals up to a minimum standard, providing more support to those in greater need, and narrowing wage and opportunity gaps across the economy.
For these reasons, we find the New School’s guaranteed income proposal particularly compelling. The authors suggest updating the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in a way that makes it function more like a true guaranteed income, removing the various income requirements and benefit differences that define the EITC today. This seems like good sense to us!
Targeted Universalism
Targeted Universalism
Policy & Practice
john a. powell, Stephen Menendian, Wendy Ake
The Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley advances groundbreaking research, policy, and ideas that examine and remediate the processes of exclusion, marginalization, and structural inequality—what we call othering—in order to build a world based on inclusion, fairness, justice, and care for the earth—what we call belonging.
Targeted Universalism offers an inspiring framework for those who want to reimagine new systems for all, while closing the opportunity gaps that are embedded in today’s systems for many historically marginalized groups.
Targeted Universalism encourages us to dream big about the world we want to build, and set universal goals that apply to all of us, as humans. And then it encourages us to look with clear eyes at the inequities embedded in and reinforced by our current systems, and craft targeted strategies to make sure that all truly means ALL, and that everyone achieves those universal goals.
We’re not only inspired by the framework, but also all the helpful tools that our friends at the Othering and Belonging Institute have published to make the framework actionable.
Check them out below!