Wellbeing has Taken a Serious Blow, but Arts can Help

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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