WWD5
Attendance at Cultural Events
What we do
- Community
Attendance at Cultural Events
Attending cultural events provides opportunities for social interaction, exposure to different art forms, education and exposure to cultural, historical, geographical, sociological, or political ideas, and a sense of community.
Cultural attendance in Understanding Society includes attending a film at a cinema or other venue, an exhibition or collection of art, photography, sculpture or a craft exhibition, an event which included video or electronic art, an event connected with books or writing, street arts or a public art display or installation, a carnival or cultural specific festival, a circus, a play/drama, pantomime or musical, an opera/operetta, a classical music performance, a rock, pop or jazz performance, a ballet, or a contemporary or culturally significant dance performance.
Key Value
A monetised social value of £3,100
Monetised social value of a 1 person ‘attending at cultural events’ once/twice per year
The study by Wang, Mak, and Fancourt (2020) explored the relationship between arts engagement, mental health, and life satisfaction. The results are particularly strong in showing the effect of attending cultural events on overall life satisfaction, even with less frequent attendance.
So, engaging in cultural activities can contribute to positive mental well-being and enhance overall life satisfaction.
This study used data from Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), which provides high-quality longitudinal panel data comprising stratified and clustered data. Life satisfaction was measured using a single question “overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?”. Responses range from 1 (completely unsatisfied) to 7 (completely satisfied). The first column in the table below represents the coefficients obtained from the study. The second column shows the coefficients converted into WELLBYs (the 0-10 life satisfaction scale). The third column displays the corresponding WELLBY value.
Therefore, the change in life satisfaction associated with attending cultural events once/twice per year is worth 0.204 WELLBYs, or 0.204*£13,000 = £2,650.
| Coefficient | Converted Coefficients | WELLBY VALUE (coefficient *£13,000 and rounded) | |
| Never/almost never (ref.) | 0.000 | 0.000 | £0 |
| Once/twice per year | 0.13 | 0.204 | £2,650 (inflation adjusted and rounded £3100) |
| Once per month | 0.11 | 0.172 | £2,200 |
| Once per week or more | 0.17 | 0.267 | £3,500 (inflation adjusted and rounded £4100) |
| Notes: Monetary figures in bold are those where the coefficient was significant at p < 0.01.
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We adjusted the value for inflation. The adjusted value and rounded value is £3,100 for attending cultural events once/twice per year .
Our approach to inflation adjustments is explained on our Methodology page HERE
Local Needs Analysis Data Source
Before using this MeasureUp value, we encourage you to assess the local need in relation to the activity or outcome.
Here is the most useful initial data source for assessing local need in relation to this value.
To assess local needs for the value WWD5 ‘Attendance at cultural events’, use the Sports spectating (Children and Young People) indicator provided by Sport England. This measures how often young people attend live sporting events, serving as a proxy for broader cultural and recreational engagement.
Data is available at the local authority, region, and active partnership levels and is updated annually. It offers insights into young people’s access to cultural experiences and can highlight areas where more opportunities or support may be needed.
Bronze
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Multiply the proportion of your participants you expect to attend cultural events by £3,100
Silver
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Consider what frequencies of attendance at cultural events you might shift people from and to. Therefore you can calculate an estimate of the overall shift, by applying the appropriate WELLBY values.
Gold
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Monetised social value: Measure actual amounts of difference that the attendance at cultural events makes to people’s lives.
Gold+
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Monetised social value: Adjust your measurement based on comparison to your control group, and discounting any other causality factors that may have had an impact on their overall wellbeing
| Value Type: | Activity |
What's this?
This is the type of value. Some values are outcomes, which means many different interventions might lead to them, others are specific interventions that have a set value. |
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| UN SDG Categories: |
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What's this?
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are global goals adopted in 2015 for all signed up nations to achieve for us to have a sustainable global future by 2030. There are 17 Goals that address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030. |
| 2020 Social Value Models: |
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What's this?
PPN 06/20 Taking account of social value in the award of central government contracts introduced the Central Government Social Value Model in 2020 which all Central Government contracting authorities must use in their in scope procurements. It consists of 5 themes, 8 policy outcomes, and 24 Model Award Criteria which outline key priority areas to achieve more social value. |
| 2025 Social Value Models: |
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What's this?
PPN 06/20 was superseded by PPN 002 Taking account of social value in the award of contracts, published in February 2025 in line with the Royal assent of the Procurement Act 2023. This PPN outlined the requirement to use the new 2025 Central Government Social Value Model. The Model applies to all Central Government procurements commencing on or after 1 October 2025 under the Procurement Act 2023. Out of scope procurements can choose to apply the model but are not required to do so. The updated model is structured around 5 government missions and 8 outcomes, with 17 Model Award Criteria, and a mandatory minimum 10% weighting of the total evaluation score assigned to social value. |
Evidence
Measure Up focuses on empowering you to numerically measure the impact you’re having. We recommend that numeric reports are backed up with stories and other types of evidence to help illustrate, in human terms, the impact that’s being made on individuals.
We recommend seeking consent from one or more participants in your intervention to collect and tell their story. This should include a little background on the participant, a summing up of life before the intervention, the human impact of the intervention, and the longer term (if known) impact on the person’s life outside of, and after, the intervention.
Providing photographs, audio recordings, video interviews or even artifacts from the intervention (for example, writing, paintings, music, etc from creative interventions) can add more colour, and convey the emotional impact of interventions more directly.
In some cases it’s appropriate to anonymise or abbreviate the personal information of case study participants. No story should be published or shared without the recorded consent of the individual(s) it concerns. Individuals continue to own the rights to their stories and if they request you stop sharing the story or making it available online you should do so promptly and without need for justification.
Feedback
Measure Up is an open, collaborative and transparent. If you have any suggestions or feedback on our pragmatic, recommended approach to measuring Life Satisfaction please get in touch so we can share and discuss this at our next Advisory Group meeting.
More help
We want to empower anyone to perform and improve their impact measurement – without needing a degree in economics.
If you need any more help, or just someone to do the legwork for you we can help signpost you to software, training and consultancy to help you get to grips with the impact you’re having.
