Research reveals ‘significant’ impact of pandemic on UK’s arts and culture sector

The arts and culture sector is at a major turning point and facing ‘imminent burnout’ alongside significant skills and workforce gaps, a report from Leeds’ Centre for Cultural Value finds.

The research found the impact of the pandemic was not experienced equally across the sector, with younger workers, women and workers from ethnic minority backgrounds among the hardest hit in terms of losing work and income.

The impact on freelancers was also ‘major and sometimes devastating’, with freelancers making up 62% of the core-creative workforce before the pandemic and only 52% by the end of 2020.

The most dramatic decline in the cultural industries workforce was observed in music, performing and visual arts, where the professional workforce fell by around a quarter between March and June 2020, with no signs of significant recovery by the end of 2020, in comparison with other sectors.

Centre for Cultural Value Director, Professor Ben Walmsley, one of the editors of the report, said: ‘Although the pandemic is still very much a part of our everyday lives and the longer-term implications of our research are still emerging, it is already clear that the pandemic has had a significant impact on the arts and cultural sector in the UK.

‘We’re at a major crossroads. Policy makers now have an opportunity to learn from the experiences and challenges faced by the arts and cultural sector during the pandemic. The UK’s cultural sector urgently needs to work together and seize this moment to adopt more equitable and regenerative modes of working and create positive and lasting change.’

The researchers found places with a history of obtaining public investment benefitted most from the Culture Recovery Fund, with networks playing a key role in building resilience.

Despite the rapid take-up of vaccines, the population’s confidence in returning to cultural venues has remained stubbornly low throughout 2021.

While the shift to digital transformed cultural experiences for those already engaged with cultural activities, it failed to diversify cultural audiences.

80% survey respondents said that taking part in arts and culture was important to their wellbeing, positively affecting their mood and helping them to manage anxiety.

Photo by Matthias Wagner