This survey was carried out by PLASA and #WeMakeEvents to collect data on how live sector professionals continue to be impacted by the Covid -19 pandemic. A sum total of 1,948 respondents completed the survey. Between 1 November and 21 December 2021, therefore excludes the recent impact of the Omicron variant.

16 months after the publication of our 2020 study, Rebalancing and Reimagining, this report analyses the changes to freelancers’ lives, looks at the current situation and future outlook for freelancers, and asks what – if any – progress has been made to rebalance the cultural sector as we progress on the road to recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

This report, published by University College London (UCL) and funded by the Arts Council, examined the complex role of the arts during the Covid-19 pandemic by interviewing 138 participants who identified with one or more of the following groups: keyworkers, adults with long-term conditions, adults with mental health conditions, older adults, parents of young children and younger adults aged 18-24.

The UK Theatre sector has faced a particularly challenging last couple of years, driven by restrictions and lockdowns. But although the effects have been acute for those working in theatre (most particularly freelancers), most theatres as organisations have emerged from the previous stages of the pandemic battered but intact. There have been few instances of venues that closed their doors being unable to reopen them.

This was better than many feared (and, of course, would not have been the case without the funding from central government, such as the Cultural Recovery Fund). There is a risk, however, that this next stage of ‘recovery’ is when the damage is felt. That although things are getting better, they are not getting better enough, fast enough, given what’s gone before.

This report summarises findings from the Cultural Participation Monitor, Audience Finder and elsewhere, to look ahead at likely sales for Christmas performances in UK theatres and venues. The overall outlook is not positive.

Academics in English, Music and Urban Studies and Planning are documenting COVID-19’s impact on the region’s cultural and creative industries. Research on venues, audiences and freelancers, underpinned by analysis of the wider governance context, aims to support reopening and planning for recovery.

Boundless Creativity was set up as a joint research project by UK Research and Innovation’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS). The project has examined the role of innovation in shaping cultural experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and generated a new evidence base to inform the recovery, renewal and future growth of the UK’s cultural and creative sectors.

Creative England and Creative Industries Federation have united to form the Creative UK Group. We work to connect, support, champion and invest in the UK’s world-leading creative industries.

The UK Creative Industries is the first report of its kind, exploring the power and potential of the UK’s creative industries to regenerate places, rebuild the economy, drive innovation and create jobs in all parts of the UK. Set to be published annually, and featuring voices ranging from comedian and film entrepreneur Lenny Henry to newly elected Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, former minister of state Jo Johnson and KISS FM’s Swarzy, the report shows how creativity can not only enable us to bounce back from the pandemic, but carve out a new position for the UK on the global stage.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the arts, culture and heritage sectors hard. Museums, galleries, cinemas, music venues, nightclubs, theatres, arts centres and heritage sites closed their doors to visitors on 23 March 2020 when the UK entered the first national lockdown. Many organisations in the sector remained entirely or mostly closed for a year. Without targeted support, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (the Department) expected large-scale financial failures arising from the pandemic during 2020–21, with many organisations likely to close permanently if support was not available by September 2020. In July 2020 the Culture Secretary announced a £1.57 billion package, the Culture Recovery Fund, to help the UK’s cultural, arts and heritage institutions survive the pandemic, supporting their long-term sustainability. The fund’s primary objective is to rescue cultural and heritage organisations at risk of financial failure in the financial year 2020–21 due to COVID-19. The Department is accountable for this fund.

COVID-19 has cut a swathe through the UK economy and society. One area of work that has been hit particularly hard is live entertainment. Some venues and organisations have been able to access grants and government rescue packages. Performers, who are often self-employed however, face a more precarious future

COVID has been, to quote the title of the Centre for Cultural Value event in this topic, ‘The Great Unequalizer’. In the first summary report from the Cultural Participation Monitor we emphasised that it has impacted everyone: mostly negatively, but differently. Here, however, we focus specifically in on inequality in its impacts. Who is more negatively impacted and how does that relate to or exacerbate previously existing and ongoing inequalities in audiences?

What happened to freelancers in 2020? Covid-19 and the creative economy

In part 3 of our ‘impact of Covid-19 on jobs in the cultural sector’ series, this article written in March 2021 analyses data from the Labour Force Survey from the Office for National Statistics. It looks at the impact of the pandemic on freelancers specifically, and how the effects have been felt unevenly across different demographic groups and different sub-sectors of the cultural and creative industries.

Responses gathered in January 2021 to the Culture Restart Audience & Visitor Tracker research by the Insights Alliance (Indigo Ltd, Baker Richards and One Further) 

Confidence levels among theatre audiences have hit an “inevitable low point”, with social distancing and vaccination now more important than ever to potential ticket buyers, according to new research.

A combination of factors such as extended national lockdowns, theatres remaining closed and the emergence of new Covid-19 variants are fuelling this dip in confidence, researchers conducting the latest round of an extensive audience survey said, but predicted this was “unlikely to be a permanent drop”.

What are the national and regional differences, and the differences between demographic groups?

This article written in February 2021 shares findings from a national research programme that is building an in-depth picture of the impacts of Covid-19 on the UK’s cultural sector. This piece looks at the impacts of the pandemic on employment in the cultural sector by analysing labour force data from the Office for National Statistics. It dives down below the headline figures to look at the impact on different places and different groups of workers within the creative economy.

PiPA’s survey into the impact of Covid on carers and parents working in the Performing Arts with a focus on intersectional Caring Responsibilities.

Parents and carers have been under relentless pressure since the first UK wide Covid related lockdown in March 2020, facing round the clock caring and home-schooling responsibilities. Many carers and parents have also taken on additional caring responsibilities for elderly and vulnerable people affected by Covid. The purpose of this research, conducted in October 2020, is to investigate the impact of Covid on people with intersectional caring responsibilities working in the performing arts – an industry, that has been forced to close, resulting in widespread redundancies and very little work available for a predominantly self-employed workforce.

An online survey, conducted by PiPA in June 2020, highlighted the vulnerability of parents and carers in the performing arts. Women, solo parents and carers, as well as those facing other kinds of social exclusion were highlighted as the most vulnerable. The aim of this second PiPA survey, conducted in October 2020, was to gain a deeper insight into the extent to which caring responsibilities during Covid, when combined with other protected characteristics and/or economic disadvantage, lead to increased challenges and further marginalisation of these already under-represented groups.

The European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) commissioned EY teams to produce a report on the state of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in Europe.
What was their economic situation before the COVID-19 crisis?
What impact has the crisis had on activity and employment?
And what are the main priorities for the sector to protect itself from the most serious consequences, to recover growth and enhance its value in the European economy? This study follows a report of the same type, entitled Creating Growth, published in December 2014.
GESAC has brought together numerous partners representing the CCIs, in order to reflect the diversity and collective strength of this economy.

This article written in January 2021 shares findings from a national research programme that is building a robust and in-depth picture of the impacts of Covid-19 on the UK’s cultural sector. Our initial case study interviews are offering a number of in-depth insights into cultural workers’ experiences during the pandemic and this article brings together some of the emerging themes from this work, highlighting the complexities of the impact of Covid-19 on cultural sector organisations.

This article written in December 2020 shares findings from a national research programme that is building a robust and in-depth picture of the impacts of Covid-19 on the UK’s cultural sector.

It looks at the impacts of the pandemic on employment in the cultural sector by analysing labour force data from the Office of National Statistics. The analysis reveals the scale of the crisis with job losses of 55,000 in music, performing and visual arts and a collapse in working hours across the sector.

This article was produced in association with the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and is available on their website here.

The Digital Theatre Transformation project examined the lessons learned from the digital transformation of Creation Theatre and its co-production with Big Telly of The Tempest on the Zoom videoconferencing platform during the national Covid-19 ‘lockdown’ of 2020. The report draws on interviews with the company and creative team, box office data, the results of an audience questionnaire, and interviews with audience members. The full report includes a Digital Toolkit, which provides detailed practical advice about working with Zoom as well as guidelines for digital working developed with Equity UK and a checklist for production managers working with Zoom.

This is a survey conducted by a group of early career directors who felt like they were being neglected by the arts, industry and pockets of funding as a result of Covid-19. We therefore decided to reach out to other early career directors to see if they felt the same. After circulating our Google Forms survey over platforms including social media sites, the Young Vic Genesis Network, JMK Network, as well as our own contacts, we collected 106 responses in over 2 months.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown of the UK has introduced profound challenges for all sectors of the economy and society. Between 31st March and 4th of July, Cultivator, part of the Creative Kernow Group, facilitated a survey, Baseline., to gather information of the pandemic’s immediate impact on creative and cultural businesses, organisations and freelancers in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, in order to provide a foundation for recovery and revival.

The survey received 216 responses documenting this unsettling period of change, and this report illustrates and shares the findings of the survey.

A key focus of the survey is the impact Covid-19 Pandemic had on the sector – mostly economically, but other response and reflection were also invited.