Raising Films report highlights issues faced by parents and carers in the screen industries

Raising Films, in association with Screen Industries Growth Network (SIGN), Bectu, BFI, Screen Scotland and Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, has published a new report, How We Work Now, highlighting the urgent need for collective action to address the issues faced by parents and carers in the screen industries.

Findings from the survey found that the screen industries remain largely incompatible for workers who have caring or parenting responsibilities. This, in turn, may lead to parents and carers leaving the sector and a resulting skills shortage. Of the participants surveyed, 58.61% referenced the need to provide care as having a negative impact on their ability to work, while 63% were willing to leave the sector due to their poor mental health.

Respondents including single parents, disabled parents and carers, and those that have both parenting and caring responsibilities also reflected on experiencing exponential exclusion.

Dr Jon Swords, Research Lead, SIGN said:

“While the UK’s screen sector is world-class in many respects, the pandemic has revealed stark realities which need to be addressed. This report illustrates the extent of these issues, but also highlights they are longstanding and deeply rooted in the way the industry operates. Urgent change is needed or the sector will continue to exclude people, pay poorly and have a lasting impact on workers’ health.”

Equality, diversity and inclusion informs and shapes all that SIGN does, and this Raising Films report is testament to the need to continue to empower people and enable growth in the screen industries of Yorkshire and the Humber.

Read the full report.