Portrait of Britain's new artistic generation: young, gifted and broke

Budding artists have never been strangers to penury, but a new report finds they are earning less than ever

When people hear the words "creative artist" they immediately think of millionaire successes such as Damien Hirst and Zadie Smith. But the reality, according to the first official study into how artists make a living, is debt, dependency and odd jobs.

And as if this portrait of hand-to-mouth existences was not depressing enough, the survey also found that the average artist's earnings have fallen year on year over the past decade – and are now 40 per cent lower than those of other professionals. The Arts Council, which carried out the study, will now use the findings to push for tax and benefit changes that recognise the sporadic nature of employment in creative industries.

While the large majority of Britain's 760,000 artists are employed in what the report terms the "cultural sector", the study found that a great many are in jobs only vaguely related to their chosen art forms. Even those whose "main" occupations coalesce with their skills and training tend to work so intermittently and earn so little that they can only survive by taking at least one other job.

Of the 650,000 or so artists whose first jobs are broadly "cultural" – art teachers, librarians and museum curators – at least a quarter also do menial work on the side. Among the low-paid occupations used to bolster their income are childcare, cleaning, washing up, carpentry, gardening and working for the Post Office. Seven per cent work part-time as clerks or secretaries, while a similar proportion are employed in "protective services", namely as security guards. Nearly six per cent, meanwhile, have a sideline as sales reps, while two per cent moonlight as factory or machine operatives.

The picture is even bleaker for those who have to make do with only a second job that is culturally related. Nine per cent of the artists in this category work primarily in office jobs, while six per cent are security guards. Nor is there any real comfort for those lucky enough to have jobs directly related to their talents and passions. Forty per cent of them are self-employed, and most subsist on short-term contracts and commissions.

The qualitative survey, entitled A Balancing Act: Artists' Labour Markets and the Tax and Benefit Systems, was commissioned from Warwick University. It centred on a series of focus groups involving 47 artists whose skills and training spanned six areas: the performing arts, writing, music, design, visual art and crafts, and production and direction. The insights offered by the report make for sobering reading.

Of the writers interviewed, one said: "You've got a commission, you're paid in stages and they're late, which they often are. Your tax is due on a certain day, and you've got to pay the tax: there's no way round that."

Another, described as "a successful writer for film and television", paid tribute to his long-suffering wife, who he said had sacrificed her own creative ambitions in order to support him in lean times. He said: "For several years I don't think I could have done it without the fact that my wife had a very well-paid job."

The lowest incomes, according to the study, are for musicians, whose normal "working week" amounts to 17 hours – half the average for other artists. One jazz guitarist told his focus group: "You're always struggling to make a living, even in the good times. Some of us do it because we love it, and there isn't really any money."

One craftmaker highlighted the plight of many people with artistic training who turn to other forms of professional training such as law and accountancy, or set up their own businesses, simply in order to earn a decent income.

"I run a business but I don't want to run a business," he said. "I want to be an artist, but when push comes to shove, the choices that are made are going to be the choices that bring in money."

The Arts Council is to use the study as a springboard to urge ministers to extend benefit changes introduced through the New Deal to help struggling musicians to cover other artists. Under the existing scheme, introduced three years ago, 18- to 24-year-old aspiring musicians are permitted to claim a weekly benefit of £51, plus a £15 bonus if they are members of bands.

The council is also pressing for a more pragmatic approach to claims procedures so that it is no longer necessary for artists who suffer bouts of unemployment to sign off each time they are offered fleeting commissions.

"This isn't just about lovely fluffy arty stuff," said Arts Council spokesman David McNeill. "The arts constitute a multi-billion-pound creative engine that can drive the economy."