Scotland's Wellbeing: national outcomes for disabled people

4. Culture 

We are creative and our vibrant and diverse cultures are expressed and enjoyed widely

What we Know: 

• Cultural attendance and participation is lower amongst disabled people compared to non-disabled people. 

National outcome

The culture outcome seeks to honour, celebrate and support creative talent. It covers a range of areas including history, arts, traditional and rural cultures, and embracing cultures from elsewhere. 

National Performance Indicators

Within the cultural section of the NPF, indicators encompass both participation in culture and the size and extent of employment within the cultural economy.

There are four NPF indicators for measuring the domain of ‘Culture’. However, one is not an individual level measurement: 

• Growth in the cultural economy (The amount of income generated by businesses, measured by Approximate Gross Value Added (aGVA), of the Creative Industries Growth Sector)

The second is individual level, but is not broken down by disability: 

• People working in arts and culture (The number of jobs in the Creative Industries Growth Sector (culture and arts)). 

However, the remaining two can be broken down by disability: 

• Attendance at cultural events (i.e. The percentage of adults who have attended or visited a cultural event or place in the last 12 months)
• Participation in the cultural economy (i.e. The percentage of adults who have participated in a cultural activity in the last 12 months)

Attendance at Cultural Events

Cultural attendance refers to attending events or places, such as the cinema, live music, theatres, galleries, museums and dance performances. By comparison, cultural participation is concerned with the active participation in culture. This includes activities like reading, creative work, crafts, photography, arts, performing, playing an instrument, and so on. 

The SHS collects data on cultural attendance and participation. These results are reported in terms ‘major reduced daily capacity’ and ‘minor reduced daily capacity’. Collectively, these two categories can be referred to as ‘disability’. Breakdowns of both ‘non-disabled’ and ‘disabled’, and of all three categories, are reproduced below. 

The SHS shows that disabled people had lower attendance at cultural events or places than non-disabled people between 2013 and 2017. In 2017, 72% of disabled people attended cultural events in 2017, compared to 89% of non-disabled people (see Figure 4.1). 

Cultural attendance was lowest among disabled adults with major long-term reduced daily capacity. Among this group, 60% attended a cultural event or place in 2017, compared to 89% of those with no condition and 78% of those with minor reduced capacity (see Figure 4.2). When cinema is excluded, attendance for disabled people with major reduced daily capacity was 53% and 72% for those with minor reduced capacity. By contrast, it was 81% among non-disabled people.

Figure 4.1 The percentage of adults who have attended or visited a cultural event or place in the last 12 months, 2013-17, by disability.

Source: Scottish Household Survey 2014-18

Figure 4.2 The percentage of adults who have attended or visited a cultural event or place in the last 12 months, 2013-17, by disability (major reduced daily capacity and minor reduced daily capacity).

Source: Scottish Household Survey 2014-18

Participation in a Cultural Event 

The SHS found that cultural participation was lower for disabled people compared to non-disabled people from 2013 to 2017. In 2017, 80% of non-disabled people participated in a cultural activity, compared to 73% of disabled people (see Figure 4.3).

Figure 4.3 The percentage of adults who have participated in a cultural activity in the last 12 months, 2013-17, by disability.

Source: Scottish Household Survey 2014-18

In 2017, 65% of those with major reduced capacity participated in culture compared to 77% of disabled people with minor reduced capacity (see Figure 4.4). When ‘reading’ is excluded from the participated statistics, participation among disabled adults with long term major reduced daily capacity in 2017 was 38%, compared to 52% among those with minor reduced capacity. For non-disabled adults it was 56%. 

Figure 4.4 The percentage of adults who have participated in a cultural activity in the last 12 months, 2013-17, by disability (major reduced daily capacity and minor reduced daily capacity).

Source: Scottish Household Survey 2014-18

Additional Indicators 

Cultural Economy

The number of individuals employed by the cultural economy in Scotland has remained reasonably consistent over the measurement period. The culture industry employed 77,000 people in 2017, compared to 76,000 people in 2009, with small fluctuations between these dates. However, figures are not currently available to allow a comparison of disabled relative to non-disabled individuals. 

There is, however, some limited evidence concerning diversity in this sector. For example, the Screen Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Survey^[25], carried out by Creative Scotland and published in 2016, asked over 500 individuals working in film and TV in Scotland about their experiences and perceived barriers to progression. This survey found that 24% of the respondents stated that they had a disability or long-term health condition, compared to 19% of the national working age population. Overall, 15% of these respondents saw their disability as a barrier. It is worth noting, however, that the same survey also found that 55% of those surveyed perceived economic limitations – i.e. the costs of training and culture of unpaid internships – as key barriers to participation and progression in the culture industry.^[26]