Cultural engagement in Scotland: what is it and why does it matter?

Conclusion

This research shows that cultural engagement in Scotland is high in 2022, with the majority of adults (88%) either having attended or visited a cultural event or place or having participated in a cultural activity in the last 12 months in the last 12 months.

Of the options surveyed in the SHS, the highest reported type of attendance was a trip to the cinema, followed by a live music event in 2022. The highest reported activity to participated in was reading books for pleasure.

The library was the most frequently visited cultural event or place and reading was the most popular form of cultural participation. This illustrates the importance of literacy and libraries to Scotland’s cultural life.

Findings from the open-text survey demonstrate how cultural engagement is varied and diverse. People are overwhelming positive about the role that culture and creativity play in their life.

However, cultural engagement is not evenly distributed across Scotland, and there are large disparities between Local Authorities and population subgroups. Variation in levels of attendance and participation between Local Authorities is likely to be related to a range of factors including the urban/rural split, social and cultural infrastructure, access to services, events and places and differences/ preferences among the people who live in these areas.

Differences between population subgroups is particularly noticeable for adults with no qualifications, those with the lowest household income, those living in the most deprived areas and adults who are disabled. The gap in rates of attendance, in many subgroups, (including by age, income, deprivation and education), however, is bigger than the gap in participation. This highlights the range of individual and systemic factors that play a part in someone’s ability, and opportunity, to attend publicly funded cultural events and places.

The COVID-19 pandemic, and then the cost of living crisis has disrupted cultural production and engagement. This can be seen in the drop in attendance at cultural events and places since 2019 - which was affected more by the impact of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis than participation in cultural activities, which has maintained since 2019. Cost and affordability were also central themes in the open text survey, with many respondents noting that the increasing costs associated with accessing places limited the frequency in which some people could access these places, or in some situations, it put them off altogether.

Looking at the changes across the population subgroups, rates of attendance decreased for most subgroups and rates of participation maintained for most subgroups since 2022. However, participation in cultural activities, including and excluding reading, increased for disabled adults between 2019 and 2022.

This research has important implications. It underscores the need to ensure the approach to culture includes the everyday, the emerging, the established and the more formal, and that cultural events and programmes meet the needs and interests of different population groups.

The principle of equity of access is central to the Culture Strategy, recognising that the opportunity to participate in culture is a human right and barriers should be removed, where possible, for those with protected characteristics and for those who can be disproportionately affected.

The uncertainty and challenges following the pandemic and the cost of living crisis continue to impact on cultural production and engagement. Through the delivery of the Programme for Government 2024-25, the Scottish Government will seek to address these challenges by working to drive up opportunities for participation in creative pursuits, support the production of new works, and ensure that Scotland’s cultural output has platforms at home and abroad.