Cultural institutions are planning activities to discuss the salary problem

In November cultural institutions are taking part in an event “Culture (Survives)” .

Latvia’s cultural sector has reached a critical juncture – low staff pay and rising running costs for cultural institutions are threatening not only the operations of these institutions, but also the next generation of professionals and public access to culture. To draw attention to the scale of the problem and the need for urgent solutions, state cultural institutions will organise a multi-day campaign entitled ‘Culture (Survives)’ in November, as announced at a press conference held on 22 October, at the Riga Congress Centre by the campaign’s organizors.

The salary of cultural workers in Latvia lags significantly behind both the average pay in the public sector and the earnings of their colleagues working in neighbouring countries. In the second quarter of this year, the average gross salary in cultural heritage institutions was 1395 euros, and in the performing arts sector it was 1365 euros, whilst the average salary in the public sector stood at 1926 euros. This means that cultural workers earn, on average, more than 500 euros a month less than those employed in the public sector.

At the same time, Latvia is falling further and further behind the other Baltic states. In Estonia, the average gross salary for cultural workers reached 2090 euros as early as 2025, with a further 2.9 million euros being allocated to the wage bill the following year. Lithuania, meanwhile, plans to allocate a further 14 million euros in 2027 to increase the pay of cultural workers, raising it by 7.5 per cent. This means that this gap will continue to widen.

More information in Latvian:  https://lnvm.gov.lv/zinas/kulturas-institucijas-cel-trauksmi-par-atalgojuma-krizi-nozare/