Do socio-demographic factors predict children’s engagement in arts and culture? Comparisons of in-school and out-of-school participation in the Taking Part Survey

There is evidence on the health, social and developmental benefits of arts and cultural participation for young people. While there is a known social gradient across adult arts participation where socially advantaged individuals are more likely to engage in the arts, it remains unclear whether socio-economic factors also affect child participation either in school or out of school. This study analysed cross-sectional data from 1,986 children aged 11–15 in the Taking Part Survey interviewed from 2015–2018. It focused on three aspects of children‘s participation: (i) performing arts activities, (i) arts, crafts and design activities, and (iii) cultural and heritage engagement. Results show a social gradient across all three activities for out-of-school engagement, but not for in-school engagement. Arts and cultural activities provided by schools are therefore important to ensuring universal access to the arts amongst young people.