Nearly Half of UK Performers Earn Under $13,300 a Year From the Work, Equity Finds

48% of the 2,102 members who answered UK performers' union Equity's survey earn less than £10,000 (~$13,300) a year from performance work and another 21% between £10,001 and £20,000 (~$26,600), against a UK full-time median salary of £39,039 (~$52,000); 62% have had to work outside the industry, 44% at least weekly, and only 26% are very confident they will still be working in it in three years. 91% back personality rights against AI exploitation, and only 13% of those whose voice or likeness has been digitally captured are confident it will be used in ways they are told about and accept; general secretary Paul W Fleming calls the results "stark" and asks the government to "move at speed" on introducing those rights. Fieldwork ran from 11 May to 29 June 2026.