Wellbeing has Taken a Serious Blow, but Arts can Help
July 2021
Cultural Participation Monitor
Wave 3 | Summer 2021
This research is from The Audience Agency's nationwide longitudinal (ongoing) panel survey of changing views about participating in creative and cultural activities through the recent and ongoing crises, and beyond, the Cultural Participation Monitor.
Themes
Wellbeing has taken a serious blow across the population, although many say that arts do help increase wellbeing.
As might be expected, wellbeing measures show substantial drops during the pandemic. For example, 36% said they had felt lonely “more often than before the pandemic” (and only 15% “less often”); 22% rated their “satisfaction with life at the moment” at 4 or less out of 10 (and 38% are “less satisfied with their life” compared to the year before the pandemic, with only 18% “more satisfied”).
Arts were believed to help improve wellbeing. Respondents were asked about which types of events they had attended during the pandemic and whether they had a positive impact on their wellbeing. 68% of ratings for arts activities were “yes” (with only 21% “no”) and 79% of rating for heritage activities were “yes” (with only 12% “no”)[1].
Similarly, when the whole population were asked about different types of activity and whether they agreed or disagreed that “this activity is important to my wellbeing”, there were substantial positive responses.
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[1] Respondents were asked which types of arts and cultural activity they had done and then for each, whether it had a positive impact on their wellbeing. This meant that an individual respondent could give more than one rating. Percentages are of all ratings given.
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Other findings from Wave 3 | Summer 2021
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Audiences are Proving Slow to Return
Audiences are proving slow to want to return, with a continuing sense of risk to health and only slow rises in engagement.
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Indications Audience Behaviours May Change After the Pandemic
There are already indications that audience behaviour will be different in the 'new-normal' after the pandemic, particularly in relation to more local attendance, greater digital engagement (alongside, and in some cases replacing, live attendance) and openness to changes in event formats from significant minorities of the population (e.g. through blended digital and live events).
