Polish Ministry Withheld Poll Showing Opposition to Artist Subsidies

A Polish government survey on support for artists produced an awkward result for the Culture Ministry: most respondents opposed the proposed subsidies. The ministry did not publish the findings until Wirtualna Polska requested them.

The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage commissioned the survey in July after the government adopted a draft law on artists’ social security in late May. The proposal would help nearly 20,000 of the lowest-earning artists pay their social insurance contributions. It has drawn controversy because the assistance would apply to one professional group.

The poll, conducted by the Ariadna panel from July 10 to 13, surveyed 1,090 people online. Seventy-three percent said artistic work should be subject to the same rights as any other work, while 8% disagreed. Asked whether the state should subsidize social and health insurance contributions for the lowest-earning artists, 58% opposed the idea and 22% supported it. Twenty percent did not express a view.

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They genuinely need state help so that they do not fall out of the general social insurance system.

Respondents were more divided over whether the lack of subsidies was socially fair. Thirty-eight percent considered it fair, 27% called it unfair, and 35% had no opinion. The ministry received a more favorable result on a differently worded question: 56% supported bringing artists’ access to social security up to the level available to other professional groups, while 18% opposed it. The survey did not specify which groups respondents should use for comparison.

Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska has defended the draft law by saying it targets only the poorest artists who genuinely need state help to remain in the general insurance system. She also argued that artists are a diverse group and should not be treated as privileged. An earlier Pollster survey found 74% opposed government payments toward artists’ pensions, while 11% supported them and 15% had no opinion.

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Our group of artists is very diverse, so we cannot say that they are privileged in any way.