Bonus 18-year-olds, yes or no? Bonisoli doesn't like it, but confirms it. Opposed to abolition are students and the Pd.

In an interview with Corriere della Sera this weekend, the minister of cultural heritage, Alberto Bonisoli, expressed a firm stance against the â?¬500 bonus, reserved for 18-year-olds, to spend on culture-a measure introduced by the Renzi government, however, which the new minister does not see eye to eye. “In some cases,” he stressed in the interview, while talking about cultural spending, “it was better to spend the money differently. I think of the 18 App, the 500 euros in vouchers for 18-year-olds to spend. It’s worth 200 million ... better to starve young people of culture, making them give up a pair of shoes.”

The culture bonus for 18-year-olds, introduced by the Stability Law in 2016, guaranteed those who would come of age within the year â?¬500 to spend on culture (books, museums, exhibitions, theaters, concerts, music, foreign language courses) by Dec. 31, after registering to a special app by June 30 of the same year. The bonus was then confirmed for 2017 as well. It was estimated that 351,522 18-year-olds took advantage of the bonus in 2016 (or 61 percent of the total), and 115 million euros were left over from the resources allocated for the operation (290 million euros), according to an investigation by Repubblica.

Critical voices against Bonisoli have been raised by both students and the PD. Giammarco Manfreda, national coordinator of the Network of Middle Students, said, “We have always harshly criticized the Culture Bonus. Since its approval we have said that it was an inequitable measure and that it did not truly represent the need to push all young people regardless of their age and economic status to have greater access to culture. We also brought forward proposals that would employ the funds allocated and not spent in the bonus to finance the right to study, reiterating that the measure in question did not contribute to reducing inequalities between female and male students but rather increased them, putting students who could not afford it in front of the choice of using the Bonus not for cultural reasons but to buy textbooks, a service that must be guaranteed free of charge. Minister Bonisoli’s words, however, leave us deeply embittered. No valid alternative to a wrong measure like the Culture Bonus is presented, no affirmation is made that we should invest in the right to study and free accessibility to culture!” Even harsher is Elisa Marchetti, national coordinator of the Union of University Students: “instead of criticizing the way of promoting culture at the basis of the bonus, it goes on to criticize the general idea of increasing the enjoyment of culture by young people. The idea that culture is the least important aspect in the life of a young student is once again being leaked, it is implied that the government’s intentions on this issue and on that of education in general are to ignore the need for knowledge and culture that we have at this time, knowledge and culture that must be accessible to all and everyone. The new minister’s statements also reveal a reading of the style and living conditions of young people that is completely unfounded. In fact, the minister alludes to a youthful tendency to irresponsible use and squandering of economic resources. This is just a cliché, and indeed, all the data on the economic and income situation of the younger generation draw a truly tragic situation.”

Anna Ascani, head of culture for the PD, speaking to Agcult, hoped that the minister would reconsider his position: one gets the impression, Ascani added, “that they are looking for money to cover something else, such as the flat tax, but if they think they can find resources by cutting culture, then they will find our opposition and that of the whole world of culture, and not only, in Italy.” Ascani went on to stress that “the 18 app should be made structural, not cancelled.” Hence, the idea of starting a petition to prevent the cancellation of 18app: “the petition comes from a group of young people who have experienced this measure firsthand. The minister should have the goodness to read the data that his ministry has published, because these data show that l80 percent of the money allocated was spent on books. It is therefore incredible to think that allowing 18-year-olds to buy books is a problem.”

However, at the moment the culture bonus remains confirmed for both 2018 and 2019: this was announced by Bonisoli himself in a long Facebook post, which opened with a remark: “culture is not an electoral boon, but an investment.” The minister first defended himself against accusations that he wanted to take away funding for culture for young people: “the opposite is true: I intend to increase the funds available for culture, and one of the strategic axes where more public money will be spent is precisely the dissemination of culture among young people.” And then he announces the confirmation of the bonus: “the funds for 2018 and 2019 are there, they will be reactivated and will be given to those born in 2000 and 2001. In doing so, we thought of gradually introducing some correctives, to make up for the mistakes made in the past and prepare a structural program for the promotion of cultural consumption, which will combine cultural dissemination projects in schools with incentives for purchases of cultural products and services, starting in 2020.” These corrective measures, however, have yet to be studied. In any case, the minister concluded, “young people are the best investment for the future of our country and they deserve much more than a one-time bonus. The funds that have already been prepared and that the action of the previous government risked blowing up, will not be eliminated, but everything will be reshaped and corrected so that long-term, more effective measures can be planned to ensure that the search for culture among adolescents grows and is lasting.”

Bonus 18-year-olds, yes or no? Bonisoli doesn't like it, but confirms it. Opposed to abolition are students and the Pd.

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.