This is how much the average freelance journalist earns…

As regular readers know I often talk about the difficulties of being a freelance journalist and while I won’t reveal my earnings here (yet), according to a new survey, the average freelance journalist in the UK makes £27,000 per year. It also flagged that the distribution of earnings is very uneven, with the top 10% of freelancers take 37% of the total earnings pie.

Not surprising the survey of 458 journalists, which was commissioned by the UK Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) in partnership with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), found that most freelance journalists subsidise their earnings with other non-journalism work. Almost half (48%) of respondents said they spend more than 50% of their time on freelance journalism while 29% said freelance journalism was their only occupation.

I definitely used to fall into the latter camp but over the years have expanded my freelance work to include everything from media consultancy to running a content network. And renting out my home on Airbnb. Honestly, I don't know how any freelance journalists just survive on journalism alone.

One journalist told the survey: “In general, journalism has become a much more unstable and challenging profession. It is not well rewarded – and I’m one of the luckier ones. I’ve never felt secure in 35 years. Every day doing the job is a small victory.”

More on the joy of freelancing here.