Cost of living crisis

Almost half of people say that they are worse off now than they were pre-pandemic, and 81% are worried about the effects of the cost-of-living crisis on themselves and their households.

Those who ‘strongly agree’ that they are worried about the cost-of-living crisis are more likely to be: women (51%); 25-55 years old (52%); those with children (53%); and disabled people (56%).

• Metroculturals and Commuterland Culturebuffs are slightly less likely to be worried about the cost-of-living crisis, as are retirees, only 30% of whom ‘strongly agree’ that they are concerned about its effect on their lifestyle.
• Typically mid-to-low engaged Audience Spectrum segments are the most concerned about the impact of cost-of-living, with family and less urban groups expecting to reduce out-of-home entertainment spend the most.

Concerningly, the Audience Spectrum groups who returned disproportionately strongly to in-person arts attendance over the past year, are now the ones saying that they expect their leisure spend to be hit the most by the cost-of-living crisis.

• This poses a potential threat to the sector's post-Covid recovery, which has so far fared better than many feared.
• This crossover is most notable for Frontline Families, Trips & Treats, Dormitory Dependables, and Experience Seekers.

People are more likely to feel worse off (46%) than better off (21%) compared with before the pandemic and are worried about the impact of the cost of living crisis:

Breaking this down a bit further by spending intentions, we find that:

• 92% expect to reduce their spend on ‘Entertainment outside the home’ to some degree as a result of the cost of living crisis, and over half anticipating that they will do so ‘a lot’.
• A 57% majority say that they expect to spend less on entertainment and leisure compared to before the pandemic: 27% think it will reduce ‘a lot’.
• This reduction is especially high for middle-engaged groups and middle-aged, non-London and rural respondents.

We also asked respondents whether they intended to ‘reduce spending a lot’, ‘reduce spending a little’ or ‘not try to reduce’ spending across a range of categories:

At 52% saying they would cut spending 'a lot' on ‘Entertainment and leisure outside the home’, this was the third-highest grouping of activities for cutting spending ‘a lot’.

• This was grouped along with ‘food and drink outside the home’ (54%) and ‘travel and holidays’ (51%).
• ‘Household bills’ and ‘entertainment and leisure within the home’ saw a lower reduction in the low 40s, while ‘transport’ and ‘food and shopping for essentials’ are the things people expect to cut back on the least.
• The competition between in-home and out-of-the-home entertainment and leisure is particularly notable, with the latter more likely to be squeezed.

At 68%, the only thing people said they expected to cut back spending on to an even greater degree was ‘non-essential retail’.

For a deeper dive into the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on arts culture and heritage, catch up with our TEA Break on this topic.