Legal status and social protection of creative professionals

Negotiations and research process has been kick-started in Latvia related to the recognition and acquisition of legal status and social protection for creative professionals introducing a new legal, regulatory and financial framework. The initiative launched by the sector (bottom-up) aims to identify the most suitable social guarantee scheme necessary for creative professionals, taking into account the importance and value of creative persons in Latvia, as well as the characteristics of creative person's lifestyle and work specifics. Social vulnerability of self-employed professional artists causes threat to the growth and development of the culture sector and may influence the freedom and quality of artistic and cultural expression. Without establishing a social security system corresponding to the specific nature of persons working in creative professions and without ensuring a motivating remuneration for persons employed in the field of culture, excellent specialists and creative talents will leave the field or the labour market of Latvia, therefore the problems of legal status and social protection, which concern self-employed representatives of creative professions, must be solved. Several foreign case studies and models have been explored based on the experience of other countries. A specific research was carried out in Latvia related to the status of creative persons in 2012 which sets the tone for further targeted actions towards achieving the legal and social protection in this regard.