By contrast, arts and crafts remained popular during the period of the Crown, according to Statistics Finland’s Time Use Survey.
Cultural participation has declined over the last ten years for both men and women. The decline has occurred in all age groups. This is the result of Statistics Finland’s new Time Use Survey.
The data for the study was collected during the koruna pandemic from September 2020 to September 2021, when many cultural institutions were closed and the number of people attending events was limited. However, attendance at cultural events was not completely prevented.
According to the survey, going to the cinema is still the most popular form of cultural participation. Between 2020 and 2021, around one in three of the population aged 10 and over went to the cinema.
Going to concerts also decreased during the pandemic years. Concerts were attended by 28 percent of those over 10 years old. Ten years ago, every second concert was attended.
– The corona pandemic had the greatest impact on young people going to concerts. The participation in concerts by 15-24-year-olds decreased from 60 percent to well under a third, says Hanifi.
According to the research, 10–14 year olds are the most diligent visitors to exhibitions and museums. During the research period, 38 percent of 10–14-year-olds visited either an exhibition or a museum. Ten years ago, the corresponding share was slightly more than half.
Women attend cultural events more than men. Socio-economic status is also important: for example, the theater is most visited by senior white-collar women. Almost every third of them had been to a theater at the time of the research.
Creative arts kept going even in the age of the Crown
The corona pandemic did not affect creative arts as strongly as attending cultural events. The most popular art hobby was photography, which was practiced by every fourth person over the age of 10.
Women are more involved in creative arts than men, with a few exceptions: men were more involved in music and videography than women.
– Creative arts were practiced about as actively as 10 years ago. Creative hobbies can also be practiced at home and, if necessary, without a supervisor, so they could provide content for the home-centered life of the corona era, Hanifi states.
Creative hobbies are most common among children. For children, there is also growth in some hobbies. For example, 10–14-year-olds do more visual arts, videography and dance now than 10 years ago. On the other hand, singing has clearly decreased.
Playing music is one of the most popular cultural hobbies of Finns. Over the past 20 years, the number of people playing has remained roughly the same. Back in the early 1980s, however, playing was practiced more than today. According to the time use survey, in 2020–2021, 14 percent of the population over the age of 10 played music. Playing is still very much a hobby of young people.
– Women under 25 play music more than men of the same age. At a later age, women’s playing hobby decreases. In older age groups, men play more than women, says Haaramo.
All in all, 17 percent of men and 12 percent of women played an instrument in 2021-2022.