Do You Come From a Wealthy Family? You’re More Likely to Become an Artist Than Someone From a Poorer Background

A recent study based on US census data suggests that artists tend to come from rich families.

A photograph from Lauren Greenfield’s Generation Wealth. Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios © Lauren Greenfield, all rights reserved. A new study suggests that a major determining factor in whether a person becomes an artist is his or her family’s wealth.

The paper, titled “The Origins of Creativity: The Case of the Arts in the United States Since 1850,” was published in February by Karol Jan Borowiecki, a professor of economics at the University of Southern Denmark. It’s based on census data from the United States going back to 1850, and compares the socio-economic backgrounds and geographic locations of respondents who have identified themselves as artists, musicians, authors, actors, or other creative professionals, compared to those in other fields.