More than 1,000 makers responded to the 2024 survey, published on 4 April 2025, and a history student with a craft habit takes notes
Rising Costs, Mass-Produced Rivals and Limited Funding: What the Crafts Council Makers Survey Says About Making a Living
More than 1,000 makers responded to the 2024 survey, published on 4 April 2025, and a history student with a craft habit takes notes
By Bethan Morgan, history student and crafter
Monday, Library, Tape Measure
Dear diary, the Crafts Council published its Makers Survey report on 4 April 2025, based on a 2024 survey of more than 1,000 makers. I read it on Monday, and I must say at the start that it is not new and that I have not seen the full report, only the Crafts Council’s summary page. The full report is linked there as a PDF.
The page does not give income data, business counts or percentages, so I have none to give you.
Who Replied
The page says the respondents were makers across UK villages, towns and cities, including full-time makers, part-time makers and those who make without intending to profit. It describes a vibrant sector with makers working across a wide range of craft disciplines, high levels of education and significant representation of female, disabled and neurodivergent makers.
I am a part-time maker, in the sense that I make things in the gaps between essays.
The Challenges
The summary says the sector faces “rising operational costs, saturation of low-cost, mass produced items and limited funding opportunities,” which threaten its financial resilience. It adds that Brexit and global economic instability have created barriers to international trade and visibility, particularly in the EU market.
That is a long sentence with four serious problems in it. I will take them one at a time.
Rising Costs
Anyone who has bought wool, clay or paper lately knows about rising costs. I buy in small amounts. A professional buys in large amounts, and her costs rise in large amounts. I cannot put a figure on it because the page does not.
What I can say is that a maker’s materials cost money before a single thing is sold. The risk is hers.
Cheap Competition
The saturation of low-cost, mass produced items is the second problem. A hand-knitted hat takes hours. A factory hat takes seconds. The price of the first reflects the hours, and the second reflects the factory. People are free to choose, and often choose the cheaper.
I am a student, and I choose the cheaper more often than I like to admit.
Trade and Funding
The page says Brexit has created barriers to international trade and visibility, particularly in the EU market. It does not give details. The funding point is also general, and I do not know which funds are meant. I would need the full report.
I have written to the Crafts Council. I have not heard back.
What I Will Do
I will buy from makers when I can, and I will tell friends. I will go to craft fairs and take a bag. I will not undervalue my own work. This is not policy. It is what a student can do between lectures.
The history of craft is a history of people being paid too little for work done with love. I would like it to change.
Tuesday
The tape measure is round my neck. The library closes in ten minutes. The PDF is waiting.
Goodnight, diary. Value the hours.
Questions From the Craft Room
Friend one: are makers poor? The page says nothing about income, so I cannot say. Friend two: should I buy handmade? If you can afford to, I think it helps, though the page makes no such recommendation. Friend three: can I join the Crafts Council? I do not know the rules and I told her to look at their site.
I am a poor source of advice and a good source of questions.
A Note on Method
This is a diary entry about a summary of a report. The distance from the data is therefore two steps: the survey, then the summary, then me. I mention it so the reader can judge how much to trust the entry. The answer is, as much as you would trust a student with a library card, a deadline and a cup of tea that has gone cold in the reading room.
Pattern Book
If you need something to read while the glue dries, try the Cebu condo saga as told by the comic press: a Manila News report on a broker with three brochures, a London Prat dispatch on British pensioners needing a vicar (direct link https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and a Bohiney piece on two-hour showings. The wider network lives at prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, try NewsThump, and the rest of the lot at NewsThump, NewsBiscuit and The Daily Squib.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/