Has out-of-home entertainment returned to post-pandemic levels?

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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