Study: Few Americans engage in the arts on a typical day despite health benefits
Only about 1 in 20 Americans report taking part in an arts or cultural activity on any given day, according to a University of Florida and University College London analysis of 20 years of national survey data.
On a typical day, about 1 in 60 Americans do arts and crafts, 1 in 200 engage in creative writing and 1 in 400 visit a museum, though researchers note these figures reflect activities reported only for the previous day.
Researchers say the findings highlight a gap between growing evidence that the arts benefit physical and mental health and the relatively low rates of everyday arts participation in the U.S.
Only about 1 in 20 Americans engage in arts or cultural activities on any given day, according to a new study analyzing two decades of national survey data — a surprisingly low figure for a behavior researchers increasingly associate with health and well-being.
When looking at specific arts activities, the numbers are even lower. One in 60 Americans report doing arts and crafts on a given day, 1 in 200 report doing creative writing, and 1 in 400 report going to a museum. Researchers cautioned that those numbers reflect only what participants reported doing the previous day, not broader weekly or yearly participation rates.
Earlier this year, co-director of the Epi-Arts lab (a National Endowment for the Arts research lab at UF in partnership with University College London) and senior author on the new study, Professor Daisy Fancourt published the bestselling book “The Art Cure,” which synthesizes research showing that engaging in creative activities can improve health, reduce depression and chronic pain, strengthen brain resilience and even contribute to longer lives.
Fancourt said it’s notable that the rates of arts participation identified in this study are comparatively much lower than rates of engagement in other health-promoting behaviors like exercise.
“There has been a major shift in people’s awareness of the health benefits of exercise over the past few decades, which has helped people to prioritize physical activity within their daily lives, but public awareness of the health benefits of the arts remains much lower,” she said. “Communicating the scientific benefits alongside continuing to remove barriers to accessing the arts is critical to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to benefit from the arts in their daily lives.”
The present study, published recently in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, examined responses from more than 236,000 participants in the American Time Use Survey between 2003 and 2023. This is an ongoing federal survey in which participants detail how they spent the previous day.
This study also revealed some good news, researchers said, who found that while arts engagement levels remain low, overall participation rates have stayed stable over the past two decades.
The findings contrast sharply with another widely covered study published by the same research team in August, showing that around 1 in 5 reported reading for pleasure on the previous day over the same 20-year period.
“Unlike our reading study, where we saw reading decline so significantly, we didn’t see the same kinds of decline in participation with the arts across those 20 years, which is really encouraging,” said Jill Sonke, Ph.D., director of research initiatives at the UF Center for Arts in Medicine and co-director of the EpiArts Lab.
There was another trend that concerned the team: Americans have changed where and how they engage.
Over time, Americans became increasingly likely to engage in creative activities at home rather than outside the home and more likely to do them alone instead of socially. Those declines accelerated around the COVID-19 pandemic and only partially rebounded afterward.
“We think a lot of the potential health benefits from these activities come not just from the creative element itself, but also from going out, seeing other people and building social connections,” said Jess Bone, Ph.D., senior research fellow in epidemiology and statistics at UCL. “If we’re seeing a decline in all of those things, we might be losing some of those added benefits.”
The study is part of a broader effort by researchers at the EpiArts Lab to understand the arts as a public health resource. This includes exploring connections between arts engagement and health outcomes. Previous research from the group has linked creative participation to improved mental and physical health, stronger social connections and even slower biological aging.
“What’s important in this story overall is the need to recognize that, like exercise and nutrition, arts participation is a health behavior,” said Sonke.
The researchers hope the findings encourage policymakers, health systems and communities to think more intentionally about improving access to arts participation and making creative opportunities more welcoming and affordable.
