The Youth Lab

CHALLENGING ECONOMICS PERSIST

Representation challenges have long plagued the creative industry. The creative scene today - in many ways - paints similar barriers for those with fewer means.

In Ireland, the Creative and Communications Association, (formerly IAPI), highlighted in their 2025 Census Report that more than two-thirds of respondents identified as coming from an affluent or middle-class background. Additionally, 55% of Irish nationals working in the industry come from Dublin.

The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre found that only 16% of people working in creative occupations in 2024 came from working-class backgrounds, despite representing almost a third of the UK's workforce. It concluded that people from privileged backgrounds are more likely to secure jobs, progress in their careers and influence what gets produced across the sector.

Research from the Sutton Trust found that young people from working-class backgrounds are four times less likely to work in the creative industries than their middle-class peers. It also found that top-selling musicians are six times more likely than the general population to have attended private school. Similarly, a 2026 first-hand account published by Creative Lives in Progress in the UK described how many young people are being pushed out of creative careers before they even begin. Rising costs, reduced access to arts education and the expectation of unpaid work are creating a system where pursuing creativity increasingly requires financial backing.

But this isn't the full story.

CREATIVE MAVERICKS ARE FORGING NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Today's generation isn't waiting for permission to be creative. They're finding new routes in, building careers through multiple revenue streams, online communities, freelance work and creator platforms. Instead of relying solely on agencies, publishers or record labels, many are building audiences first. They're launching brands on TikTok, selling artwork through third party platforms, finding commissions on Instagram, learning through YouTube and collaborating through Discord communities.

The creator economy has opened doors that simply didn't exist for previous generations. But those opportunities come with new expectations … and costs.

Young creatives aren't just expected to make great work. They're expected to become marketers, editors, strategists, content creators and business owners at the same time. This shift means success increasingly belongs to people who can combine creative thinking with digital fluency, collaboration and community building. And for the creators at Cannes Festival of Creativity 2026, the question of affordability and accessibility was on everyone’s lips - As Forbes reported in its aptly titled feature, ‘At Cannes, Creators Are Betting On Themselves. Is It Worth It?’, they’re funding themselves to be there - flights, accommodation, event access, production equipment, wardrobe and beauty costs, not to mention the unpaid time required to create content while attending.

IRELAND IS LEADING THE CHARGE IN DRIVING SYSTEMIC CHANGE

While many of the pressures are real, Ireland is also becoming one of the more interesting places to watch when it comes to supporting young creativity.

THINKHOUSE’s client, Creative Ireland, is a government-led culture and wellbeing program that connects people, creativity, and wellbeing to help everyone in Ireland reach their full creative potential and continues to champion creativity as a public good rather than a luxury. It invests in programmes that connect young people with creative opportunities in schools, communities and local authorities. Initiatives such as Creative Youth and Cruinniú na nÓg (one of our all time favourite campaigns) are helping thousands of young people experience creativity not just as something they consume, but something they actively participate in.

At the same time, government support for professional artists continues to evolve. Following the success of the Basic Income for the Arts pilot, Ireland introduced a successor scheme supporting 2,000 professional artists with €325 per week for three years, recognising that creative work deserves economic stability, not just cultural recognition. The pilot demonstrated positive impacts on wellbeing, creative output and artists staying in the sector, making Ireland one of the few countries actively experimenting with new ways of sustaining creative careers.

“The BIA scheme gave me the freedom to unlock my full creative potential, allowing me the time, energy and financial backing necessary to pursue a career in the arts in this country. It kept me in the city, kept my head above the water and kept me making theatre and film with a budding community of young exciting artists who were also kept afloat because of the grant. Even those not directly funded benefitted from artists staying in the country and projects coming to fruition that would otherwise have collapsed.” -Actor Fiachra Corkery

And of course closer to home, THINKHOUSE’s Breakthrough Scholarship enters its 6th year. Applications for the 2026 Breakthrough Scholarship are still open, closing August 8th.

The Scholarship was created to remove the financial, social and structural barriers that prevent talented young people from entering Ireland's creative industries. By combining education - a fully funded Master’s at TU Dublin - accommodation from Yugo student accommodation provider and paid work experience and mentoring from THINKHOUSE, the programme creates a genuine pathway into the industry for people whose potential might otherwise go unrealised. In doing so, it not only changes individual lives but helps build a more representative, more creative and more future-fit industry. Applications are still open till August 8th. To apply, click here.

CREATING A MORE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

While initiatives like these are an important step towards improving representation in the creative industries, they are only part of the solution. If creativity is to become a truly inclusive and sustainable driver of economic and cultural growth, we need stronger infrastructure to support creative careers - from education and funding to mentoring, networks and fair pay - across both the creator economy and the wider creative sector.

The youth perspective is clear: creativity and culture should belong to everyone, not just those who can afford to participate. The challenge isn't discovering new talent - it's ensuring that talent, rather than privilege, determines who gets to build a creative life.

BRAND TAKEOUTS