Facilitate young people’s access to cultural offerings: this is the ambition of the Culture Pass, launched in France in 2019 and generalized in 2021. This application allows all young people aged 15 to 18 to benefit from a financial assistance to afford cultural products, but also to have access to workshops, concerts, cinema screenings or even digital services such as online subscriptions. Thanks to this system, young French people have an “individual part”, which they can use as they wish, and a “collective part”, which is managed by their teachers. At 13 years old, a young person has 20 euros thanks to the Culture Pass, at 16 years old 30 euros, at 17 years old the same amount, and at 18 years old 300 euros, to spend on cultural products. But which ones are popular? What do adolescents and young adults prefer?
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Books, first purchases for Culture Pass beneficiaries
As detailed in the first assessment of the Culture pass, made public by the Court of Auditors in December 2024, it is the books that stand out from the crowd. “ Since the generalization of the system, books represent between 42 and 55% of the amounts spent each quarter. details the summary. Manga, which represented 40% of the share of books sold via the Culture pass in 2021, are a little less represented (but still powerful!) in 2024, totaling 20% of book sales alone. “ Literature (including children’s novels, poetry and theater) has represented, since 2024, 40% of book purchases “, we also learn.
Music highly appreciated, live performance lagging behind
So what about other cultural offerings? If books are popular, music is also widely consumed by young Culture pass subscribers: musical offers, CDs, music to listen to in streaming and concert tickets, are what young people mainly buy after books. In third position, we find audiovisual productions. “ The Culture pass is very useful for young people to reserve cinema and concert tickets. On the other hand, other forms of live performance (theatre, dance, circus, etc.) struggle to reach new audiences », Details the Court of Auditors. According to this report, this would be linked to the “reluctance” of “ major public operators of live entertainment to open up to the public holding the Culture pass, both in terms of the offer of shows likely to interest them and the places open for reservation. »
The report also reveals that only half of France’s museums are included in this cultural system. An observation which can be linked to the free or reduced prices offered to young audiences in these places, even if the Court of Auditors regrets that the Culture pass is not used “ by cultural actors as a tool for promotion and enhancement among young people.» Public monuments, libraries and arts centers are also concerned.
