To get an answer to this, we dug into 2023 data from the American Time Use Study for time spent at entertainment and art venues in 2023.
Compared to the two-year pre-pandemic period (2018-2019), Americans aged 15+ spent one-third less time attending entertainment and arts venues (E&A) in 2023. Yes, that means that in 2023, total attendance time as a whole at E&A was only two-thirds of the time spent pre-pandemic.
Every age group showed a reduction in time spent at E&A, with the most significant reduction being with those aged 35-54 and 45-55.
The participation rate was less in 2023 as well, only 69% of the pre-pandemic rate.
Again, this was true for every age group.
There was a greater reduction in participation on weekdays than on weekends.
Overall, when people did attend E&A, the time they spent was less.
The change in time spent by participants at E&A varied by age group. Some spent more and some less.
In 2023, people were still spending more time at home than pre-pandemic.
People spent, on average, over one hour less each day away from home than pre-pandemic.
A possible increase in the use of at-home digital leisure and entertainment does not explain the significant reduction in participation and average time spent at E&A. There was an insignificant change in time spent on digital leisure at home pre-pandemic versus 2023, both overall for the age 15+ population as well as every age group.
When 2024 time use data is available, it will be interesting to see whether 2024 will show a full post-pandemic recovery for E&A participation and attendance time.
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