With youth employment standing at an appalling 40 per cent, there isn't much to be cheerful about if you're a school-leaver in Italy. But prime minister Matteo Renzi has introduced a little happiness into young people's lives with his announcement of a new "culture bonus".
From September 15th, every 18-year-old in the country will be entitled to register online and access €500 through a special app. The money can then be spent over the following 15 months on a range of cultural activities, including going to theatres, cinemas, concerts and museums, visiting archaeological sites, and buying books.
The bonus will benefit 575,000 teenagers, at a cost of €290 million, and forms part of a larger government initiative announced following last November’s terrorist attacks in Paris, when Mr Renzi said an increase of a billion euros in defence and security spending would be matched by a further billion on culture. “We have centuries of history that proclaim the fact that culture will beat ignorance, that beauty is more tenacious than barbarism,” he declared.
For the moment, it seems, the culture bonus is a one-off for those lucky enough to turn 18 this year. In 2017, a similar scheme will give teachers €500 to spend on their professional development. It’s an intriguing example of how governments can and should think more imaginatively about supporting cultural activity.
And it will be fascinating to see how more than half a million young adults choose to spend their money. By targeting specific sectors of society and encouraging them to engage more actively with culture, governments can help to develop and empower new audiences in a different manner from the traditional – and not always satisfactory – system of direct state subvention or subsidy for cultural institutions and arts practitioners. When Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys's aspirational but disappointingly vague Culture 2025 strategy plan is debated in the Oirechtas later this year, the Italian initiative is exactly the sort of visionary, lateral thinking that deserves to be put on the table for discussion.