Impacts of Covid-19
From September 2020 – November 2021, we led a national research project that explored the impacts of Covid-19 on the UK cultural sector. We worked in collaboration with The Audience Agency, the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and a national consortium of academic researchers.
Photo by Cade on Unsplash
Impacts of Covid-19 on the cultural sector
The project aimed to deepen understanding of the impacts Covid-19 on cultural organisations, the cultural sector workforce, and audiences. It also explored the implications for how and what policy decisions were made in response to the crisis.
Research findings were shared as they became available so they could inform responses in real time.
This project was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) through UK Research and Innovation’s Covid-19 rapid rolling call.
Reports and Resources
Covid-19 and the global cultural and creative sector. Two years of constant learning – new foundations for a new world
Workforce: A slow recovery from Covid for performing arts
Reflecting Value S2 Ep4: Learning through crisis
Culture in Crisis: impacts of Covid-19 on the UK cultural sector and where we go from here
Covid, furlough and creative businesses
A bleak midwinter? A deep dive from our Covid-19 participation monitor
Webinar: From implications to action: What now?
Webinar: The impact on audiences part 2: Virtual experiences
Webinar: The future of cultural labour
Webinar: Covid-19: Exacerbating existing inequalities?
Webinar: Creative places & new localism
Conference: The impact on audiences part 1: Changing behaviours
Project summary
Global social distancing measures led to the closure of cultural spaces, the cancellation of cultural events and a suspension of much community-based practice for cultural practitioners. The pandemic had a devastating impact on the cultural sector, with jobs being lost and live audiences being wary of returning. It was predicted that the impact of Covid-19 on the cultural sector would have long-lasting impacts, changing cultural practice and engagement as we know it.
Given the pace of change, limited data availability and variable research methodologies, it was difficult for policymakers, academics and the cultural sector to understand the exact scale of the pandemic’s impacts.
This study addressed those gaps by offering a comprehensive mixed-methods analysis of the short, medium and longer-term impacts of Covid-19 on the cultural industries and audiences. We were able to provide policymakers and cultural organisations with robust, credible and live evidence to inform their responses, planning and interventions.
The research highlighted the challenges faced by cultural practitioners, organisations and audiences from different backgrounds, regions and art forms. Our analysis engaged with a representative range of cultural organisations reflecting different sizes, scales, geographies and sub-sectors.
The programme also included a mapping and longitudinal tracking survey over 15 months to evaluate the public’s evolving attitudes and behaviours to cultural engagement.
A book reflecting on the research findings has also been published. Pandemic Culture: The impacts of COVID-19 on the UK cultural sector and implications for the future is available to buy or as a free e-book download via Manchester University Press. More about the book.
There were three strands to the research programme.
The first looked at the impact of Covid-19 on the cultural sector. It analysed large datasets, including the ONS Labour Force Survey, and included a meta-evaluation of existing sector surveys from the first lockdown. This was complemented by in-depth case studies of a range of organisations across the cultural sector and across the UK.
The second strand explored the impact of the pandemic on the public and audiences. A national longitudinal panel survey, managed by The Audience Agency, helped us to understand, and track changes in, the public’s cultural participation (in live and digital spaces) through and beyond Covid-19. The strand also included social media analysis and captured individual stories of cultural participation during the pandemic.
The third strand examined policy responses to the pandemic and their impacts through a case study of the cultural ecosystem of Greater Manchester. It also involved a policy analysis of UK cultural policy. This strand assessed the direct impact of the crisis on business models, funding and strategic and policy development, as well as the impacts of government intervention packages.
Working across the strands, emerging findings were shared with policymakers and their questions and concerns fed back into the research.
Via a rigorous mixed-methods approach, we produced an independent overview of the impacts and implications of the Covid-19 crisis. The project’s research questions were:
- What are the short, medium and longer-term impacts of Covid-19 across different subsectors of the cultural industries?
- How has cultural consumption and consumer behaviour changed in the short, medium and longer-term due to social distancing measures and the closure of cultural spaces?
- To what extent will the Covid-19 crisis perpetuate, exacerbate or temper inequalities relating to cultural production and consumption? How will this change how the cultural industries engage with audiences in the short, medium and longer-term?
- What have been drivers and effects of the immediate policy responses to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on cultural industries? How will the crisis impact policymaking as the sector emerges from lockdown? What are the implications of Covid-19 for future cultural policymaking and the broader creative economy?
Dr Maria Barrett, University of Warwick
Dr Danni Child, Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr Bruce Davenport, Newcastle University
Dr Ben Dunn, University of Leeds
Dr Tal Feder, University of Sheffield
Dr Abigail Gilmore, University of Manchester
Dr Karen Gray, University of Leeds
Sue Hayton FRSA, University of Leeds
Dr Rachel Johnson, University of Leeds
Dr Jenny Kidd, Cardiff University
Dr Siobhan McAndrew, University of Bristol
Dr Eva Nieto McAvoy, Cardiff University
Dr Dave O’Brien, University of Edinburgh
Dr Ania Ostrowska, Cardiff University
Dr Mark Taylor, University of Sheffield
Professor Ben Walmsley, University of Leeds
Dr Harry Weeks, Newcastle University
Dr John Wright, University of Leeds
The Audience Agency: Anne Torreggiani, Richard Turpin and Oliver Mantell