This page details the ways in which findings from this study compares to the 2013 workforce study conducted by Dr. Benjamin Woo. Please note that while these projects targeted similar populations, they do not necessarily assess the same participants. Additionally, while the 2019 study utilized a survey which was based upon the 2013 study, the two survey instruments were not identical. As such, each dataset presents a snapshot of the general conditions experienced by those particular respondents at those times; making comparisons of these data is not necessarily equivocal to a longitudinal analysis.

That being said, comparing these two cross-sectional studies still serves to illuminate areas where comics work has potentially changed over the past 5-6 years. Several points of comparison between the 2013 and 2019 data, as well as their implications, are outlined and addressed below.

Demographic Composition

The 2013 study reported that approximately 30% of it's respondents identified as a woman, and less than 1% of participants identified as a nonbinary gender. The 2019 data around gender reflects broader social trends of gender acceptance, with the presence of women in the comics workforce increasing by over 10%. Similarly, nonbinary respondents were more present in the new data; folks who explicitly identified as trans were also more present in the 2019 data than the 2013 data. Generally, the proportion of men is smaller in the 2019 sample, but this does not necessarily mean that men are no longer the most common gender throughout the industry - it simply means that a smaller proportion of men responded to the 2019 survey than the 2013 survey.

While members of other racial and ethnic groups are present in both the 2013 and 2019 data, these findings support popular notions/critiques that the comics workforce seems to be dominated by White laborers. That being said, the 2019 data generally shows a larger proportion of nonwhite respondents; with a significantly larger proportion of Latinx, East Asian, and Black workers present in this year's data than the 2013 data.

Working Conditions

Because a few metrics differ between the two studies, the results around participants' roles within the comics industry present trends which are not necessarily comparable. While larger proportions of specialized artist roles are identified in the 2019 data, many of these respondents would have selected "multi-role artist" if they were given identical options to the 2013 survey. Additionally, while these findings show that a larger proportion of writers are present in the 2019 data it is likely that many respondents would have selected "writer/artist" if they were given the option to do so.

In the most general sense, while the 2019 data might present a more balanced view of the roles occupied within the comics industry, the 2013 data may present a more realistic picture of the way in which comics work operates - with individuals performing multiple work tasks on their comics.

While the 2019 data does not stratify self-published workers from a typical "freelancer", both groups of workers represent approximately the same proportion of the data. Additionally, while there are marginal differences in the proportion of "employees" present between the 2013 and 2019 data (with a slightly higher percentage of employees in the 2019 data), the employment composition of the workforce seems to be fairly consistent across time.

While a comparable percentage of workers are published through creator-owned agreements and digital self-publishing in both studies, a larger percentage of workers in the 2019 data are published via work-for-hire contracts than in 2013. Conversely, a significantly smaller proportion of respondents in the 2019 data are self-published in print than the 2013 data. It is unclear whether this drop is due to the addition of crowd-funding as a response to this question, or whether this method of self-publishing is simply less common in 2019 than it was in 2013.

Health & Expenses

Comparisons between the 2013 and 2019 responses around workers' basic health care coverage show that fewer respondents are insured through their employers (with a 10% disparity between the two studies). Comparable percentages of respondents have insurance through a spouse or family member, or through public health programs (e.g. universal health coverage) between the two datasets. Similarly, comparable proportions of respondents choose to pay completely out of pocket for healthcare expenses. There are small disparities between the 2013 and 2019 datasets that suggest that it is less common in 2019 for respondents to be unable to afford insurance, or to pay for insurance themselves, but there is also a larger proportion of respondents who cited unique circumstances as factors impacting their healthcare situation in the 2019 data.

Respondents in the 2019 data were generally less likely to be able to cover an unexpected expense than workers in 2013 were, with a 14.5% discrepancy in participants saying they would be unable to cover of $500 out of pocket on short notice.

The size of this discrepancy suggests that workers in the 2019 dataset may be less financially stable than the workers from the 2013 study.

Similarly, fewer respondents in the 2019 data reported being able to spend a small amount of money on themselves. There is a 9.5% discrepancy on this metric, further suggesting that workers may be less financially stable in the 2019 data than the 2013 data.

Worker Beliefs & Attitudes

Changes in Worker Satisfaction

Workers in the 2013 data reported a degree of ambivalence about their satisfaction with their working conditions, with comparable numbers of responses indicating satisfaction and dissatisfaction with their "work situation". While workers in the 2019 data indicate generally high levels of life satisfaction, they are markedly less ambivalent about their work situations, and distinctly less satisfied with their working conditions overall - as indicated by the blue line and bars in the 2019 chart above. Many reasons for their dissatisfaction are identified below.