Impacts of COVID-19 on the cultural sector and implications for policy

About the project

This project aimed to deepen understanding of the impacts of COVID-19 on cultural organisations, on the cultural sector workforce, and on audiences.

There were three strands to this mixed methods research programme. The first examined the impacts on the cultural sector, analysing large data-sets including the ONS Labour Force Survey. These were complemented by in-depth qualitative case studies of a range of organisations across the sector. The second strand explored the impacts on the public and audiences, using a national longitudinal panel survey. The third strand examined policy responses through a case study of the cultural ecosystem of Greater Manchester.