Age, Gender and Performer Employment in Europe

Deborah Dean

The International Federation of Actors (FIA) recently commissioned an online questionnaire to survey performers across Europe in film, television, theatre and radio on their perceptions of the effects of social identities (principally gender and age) on a range of areas including access to work, pay, content of work and career longevity. This project was funded within the ‘social dialogue’ strand of the European Commission’s work.  The report's findings indicate differentiated effects of age on access to work, pay and career longevity, depending on the performer’s gender. This is despite the status of performing work as a long-established gender-integrated occupation. The full report can be downloaded here