Teenagers in France offered $500 to spend on 'culture'

People drink outdoors on a bar terraces in Paris. Photo / AP

France introduced a new nationwide "culture pass" on Friday, offering €300 ($508) for 18-year-olds to spend on anything from theatre tickets to computer games after a trial run in 14 areas proved popular.

Some 800,000 teenagers a year can now look forward to downloading an app offering them credits to pay for cinema, museum and theatre tickets, as well as books, art materials, dance classes, musical instruments or an online subscription.

It also allows them to pay for video games but these will not reportedly be on offer in an upcoming culture pass for secondary school and lycée students.

Fears that all the money would go on video games were assuaged after trials showed that 60 per cent of the money went on books, with music on 12 per cent and cinema and videos taking up 10 per cent.

Books and other items must be bought in person and not delivered by online suppliers.

While the pass is not linked to recovery from the Covid pandemic, it will help kick-start the culture sector, which reopened this week after six months under lockdown.

President Emmanuel Macron announced the pass, which was a 2017 presidential campaign pledge, in a 30-second TikTok and Instagram video.

Once they register, 18-year-olds will have two years to spend the money. It was originally run as a €500 trial, but the government opted to hand over €200 of it to pupils from 2022.

Some €25 a year will go to 14-and 15-year-olds, with €50 for the last three years of school.

The app lists exhibitions, concerts and other cultural events in local areas.Some political opponents claimed it was a ploy to attract new voters in next year's presidential election.