Our aim is to improve the quality of life for all through cultural and sporting activities, support the pursuit of excellence, and champion the tourism, creative and leisure industries.
Taking Part is a National Statistic and has been produced to the standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics
Department for Culture, Media and Sport /Taking Part –Statistical Release
Contents
Introduction 4
Key findings 6
Chapter 1: Museums, galleries and archives 8
Chapter 2: Arts 16
Chapter 3: Libraries 27
Chapter 4: Heritage 33
Chapter 5: Sport 40
Annex A: Background note 47
Annex B: Sector definitions - Adults 49
Annex C: Sector definitions - Children 53
Annex D: Participation in 2/5 culture and sport sectors 58
Introduction
The Taking Part Survey
The Taking Part Survey measures engagement and non-engagement in culture, leisure and sport in England. It is the key evidence source for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), providing reliable national estimates of participation and supporting the Department’s aim of improving the quality of life for everyone by providing people with the chance to get involved in a variety of these opportunities.
The survey was commissioned by DCMS in partnership with four of our Non Departmental Public Bodies (Arts Council England, English Heritage, Sport England, and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council).
It is a continuous face-to-face survey with adults aged 16 or over living in private households in England, and is conducted on behalf of DCMS by TNS-BMRB. The survey has been run since mid-July 2005 and this release reports data from the fifth full year of the survey (2009/10). No geographical restriction is placed on where the activity or event occurred.
In supporting the Department, the Taking Part Survey contributes to the evidence base across a wide range of topics including participation in culture and sport, satisfaction and enjoyment with culture and sport, social capital, volunteering and barriers to participation. It also collects an in-depth range of socio-demographic information on respondents. This report presents a range of data across each of our sectors but is by no means a complete picture of what is available. A wider range of measures are included in the range of spreadsheets accompanying this release and analysis can be conducted across all five years of the adult survey through NetQuest, our on-line analytical tool:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/research_and_statistics/6762.aspx
The Child Survey
A child interview was added to the survey in January 2006, interviewing a randomly selected child in those households containing at least one child aged 11-15. This is also a continuous face-to-face survey. In 2008/09, the child survey was broadened to include children aged 5-10. Interviews with children aged 11-15 are carried out directly, for those aged 5-10 an interview is conducted with the adult respondent.
Children are asked about their engagement and non-engagement in cultural activities during the 12 months prior to the interview and their participation in sports activities in the four weeks prior to the interview. The survey then asks more detailed questions about their activities in the last 7 days using a diary format giving detailed information on the types of activities, time spent on them, and who they undertook these with.
Children aged 11-15 are asked about the activities they did both in and out of school time. The questionnaire for children aged 5-10, only asks about their activities out of school time to reflect that the proxy respondent cannot accurately report on the activities of the child while they were at school. As with the adult survey, there is no geographical restriction on where the activities took place.
The 2009/10 Taking Part Survey
The 2009/10 Taking Part survey has a smaller sample size and shorter questionnaire than previous waves of the survey. The survey measured engagement in DCMS’s cultural and sporting sectors, but did not cover social capital, cohesion or volunteering questions. It collected responses from 6,097 adults and 537 children. The larger questionnaire and sample size have been reinstated for the 2010/11 survey to ensure the sample is better able to detect significant changes and has a more effective child sample size.
While still able to measure engagement across cultural and sports sectors, the reduced sample for 2009/10 has meant that some analysis is not possible, and for other analysis (e.g. regional analysis), confidence intervals are quite wide, making statistically significant changes difficult to detect. This is particularly the case for children. As such, this report only presents headline findings for engagement by children as the sample does not support more detailed investigation. More detailed analysis of the activities engaged in by children can be found in the October 2009 report from the 2008/09 survey:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/6409.aspx
Key findings
Museums, galleries and archives
· In 2009/10, 46.7 per cent of adults had visited a museum, gallery or archive in the last year, an increase from 2008/09 (44.5%). Though not a statistically significant change in this one year, it represents a continuation of the upward trend since 2006/07 (41.5%). Museum visits are highest in London (55.5%) and lowest in the East Midlands (39.5%).
· Since 2006/07 there has been an increase in the proportion of 11-15 year olds who have visited a museum, gallery or archive in the last year (from 54.7% in 2006/07 to 66.8% in 2009/10).
Arts
· Over three-quarters (75.7%) of adults have engaged with the arts[1] at least once in the last year; proportions ranged from 69.7 per cent in the West Midlands to 84.9 per cent in the South East. This pattern has remained steady since 2005/06.
· Between 2005/06 and 2009/10, the proportion of adults attending rock, pop and folk live music events and reading for pleasure increased while the proportion attending carnivals and craft exhibitions decreased.
Libraries
· In 2009/10, the proportion of adults who visited a public library at least once in the last 12 months ranged from 30.0 per cent Yorkshire and the Humber to 43.5 per cent in the South East.
· Since 2005/06, there has been a steady decrease in the proportion of adults visiting a public library (from 48.2% to 39.4% in 2009/10), although rates remained stable between 2008/09 and 2009/10.
· The decrease in library visits is consistent across all socio-demographic groups.
· While there has been a steady decline in library visits across the English regions, the North East and the East Midlands have bucked the trend – in these areas library visits have remained stable since 2005/06.
Heritage
· In 2009/10, 70.4 per cent of adults had visited a heritage site in the last year; ranging from 59.8 per cent of people in London to 81.0 per cent of people in the South East.
· Since 2005/06, the proportions of adults and children visiting a heritage site have remained steady. This trend holds across all regions and socio-demographic groups.
· The most popular type of heritage site was an historic city or town (54.8% of adults had visited), followed by an historic park or garden (41.5%) and an historic building (38.5%).
Sport
· Over half (53.4%) of adults had done active sport in the last four weeks.
· Almost 7 per cent of adults do sport every day. Nearly a quarter (24.3%) of adults did active sport on 11-28 days within a four week period.
· Unlike cultural participation, there is no significant variation by deprivation, between regions, or between rural and urban areas.
Other key findings:
· Between 2005/06 and 2008/09, there was a statistically significant increase in the proportion of people who had visited a museum or gallery in the North West (from 40.4% to 47.0%). Although this fell back slightly to 45.2 per cent in 2009/10, this is still an increase from 2005/06, though no longer a significant one. This increase coincides with Liverpool’s hosting of the 2008 European Capital of Culture, and was probably driven by an increase in activity in and around Liverpool
· There is a strong relationship between cultural engagement and deprivation. People who live in the most deprived areas of England are significantly less likely than people in the least deprived areas to visit museums and galleries, heritage sites and public libraries; they are also less likely to engage in the arts. In many cases, the differences between these two groups is considerable, e.g. people in the least deprived areas (84.2%) are more than twice as likely to visit a heritage site than those in the most deprived areas (39.8%). However, the relationship between sports participation and deprivation is not shown to be statistically significant.
· The biggest “drop off” in engagement happens between ages 11-15 and 16-24, e.g. in 2009/10, 66.8 per cent of 11-15 year olds had visited a museum or gallery compared with 36.7 per cent of 16-24 year olds. This happens to varying degrees across all the culture and sport sectors analysed in this report, and is most likely a result of leaving school.
· Across all sectors, children are more likely than adults to engage in culture and sport.
Chapter 1: Museums, galleries and archives
Key findings
· In 2009/10, 46.7 per cent of adults had visited a museum, gallery or archive in the last year, an increase from 2008/09 (44.5%), though this is not a statistically significant change between these two periods, and a continuation of the steady upward trend since 2006/07 (41.5%).
· Between 2005/06 and 2009/10, there was an increase in museum visits in the West Midlands (from 35.3% to 42.4%), the South East (from 43.8% to 51.0%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (from 38.8% to 46.8%).
· Between 2005/06 and 2008/09, there was a statistically significant increase in the proportion of people who had visited a museum or gallery in the North West (from 40.4% to 47.0%). This fell back slightly to 45.2 per cent in 2009/10, but is still an increase from 2005/06, though no longer a significant one. This increase coincides with Liverpool’s hosting of the 2008 European Capital of Culture, and may reflect the increase in activity in and around Liverpool that marked this occasion.
· Since 2006/07 there has been an increase in the proportion of 11-15 year olds who have visited a museum, gallery or archive in the last year (from 54.7% in 2006/07 to 66.8% in 2009/10).
Frequency of engagement
In 2009/10, 46.7 per cent of adults had visited a museum, gallery or archive in the last year, an increase from 2008/09 (44.5%), though not statistically significant, and a continuation of the steady upward trend since 2006/07 (41.5%). Among children, 70.3 per cent of those aged 5-10 years and 66.8 per cent of those aged 11-15 years had visited a museum or gallery (Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1: Proportion who have visited a museum, gallery or archive in the last year, 2005/06 to 2009/10
Notes
(1) Data for 5-10 year olds relates to out of school visits only. Data for 11-15 years olds relates to visits both in and out of school
(2) Data for 5-10 years olds not collected prior to 2008/09; Data for 11-15 year olds not collected prior to 2006/07
(3) Confidence intervals range between +/-0.7 and +/-2.2 for adults, and between +/-2.2 and +/-8.2 for children
In 2009/10, over half (54.0%) of adults had not visited a museum or gallery in the last 12 months (note that this figure does not include visits to archives), while over a quarter (27.9%) had visited once or twice. A smaller proportion (14.1%) had been 3-4 times a year or at least once a month (3.6%). Less than one per cent (0.4%) had visited at least once a week (Figure 1.2). This pattern has remained unchanged since 2005/06.
Figure 1.2: Frequency of museum or gallery visits in the last year, 2009/10
Notes
(1) Confidence intervals range between +/-0.7 and +/-2.2 for adults, and between +/-2.2 and +/-8.2 for children
In 2009/10, 3.8 per cent of adults had visited an archive, with 2.5 per cent of adults visiting once or twice in a year, 0.8 per cent visiting three to four times a year, and 0.5 per cent visiting once a month or once a week.
Area level factors
The extent to which people visit museums, galleries and archives varies according to where people live, and the type of area they live in.
The effect of area-level deprivation is particularly stark. In 2009/10, people who lived in the least deprived areas of England were twice as likely as those who lived in the most deprived areas to have visited a museum, gallery or archive in the last year (63.8% compared with 31.3%). However, between the extremes of deprivation and affluence, there is far less variation (Figure 1.3) with a range of participation from 43.0 per cent to 48.5 per cent. Those living in the second most deprived areas had participation of 44.9 per cent compared to those in the second most affluent areas who had participation levels of 48.5 per cent (a non-significant difference).
Figure 1.3: Proportion of adults who have visited a museum, gallery or archive in the last year, 2009/10, by deprivation
Notes
(1) Confidence intervals range between +/-6.4 and +/-7.7
While people who live in rural areas are just as likely as people in urban areas to have visited a museum, gallery or archive in the last year, there are variations by region. For example, in 2009/10, people in London[2] (55.5%) are more likely than people in the North West (45.2%), the East Midlands (39.5%), the West Midlands (42.4%), the East of England (44.2%), and the South West (41.1%) to have visited a museum, gallery or archive in the last year.
Between 2005/06 and 2008/09, there was an increase in the proportion of people who had visited a museum, gallery or archive in the North West (from 40.4% to 47.0%). Although this fell back slightly to 45.2 per cent in 2009/10, this is still an increase from 2005/06, though no longer a statistically significant one. This increase coincides with Liverpool’s hosting of the 2008 European Capital of Culture, and may reflect an increase in activity in and around Liverpool to mark this occasion.