What Do Culture Vouchers Really Buy? Evidence from France's ‘pass Culture’ Policy Effects

Over the last decade, states throughout Europe have begun implementing universal culture vouchers for young adults to boost cultural participation. Little is known about the effects of these large-scale subsidies, specifically whether they are truly an effective means of widening participation. This article addresses this question by evaluating the French ‘pass Culture’, a €300 stipend for cultural consumption offered to all 18-year-olds. Drawing from the fields of the sociology of culture and cultural economics, this study aims to determine whether an increase in purchasing power for cultural goods can influence participation. The empirical analysis is based on an econometric examination of a large-scale survey examining cultural participation and the use of ‘pass Culture’. The results reveal that while the voucher does not affect participation in institutional highbrow cultural activities like museum visits, theater, or opera attendance, it significantly increases engagement with commercial popular culture, including cinema and comic book reading. These findings suggest that financial barriers are not the primary obstacle to consumption in cultural capital-intensive activities. However, financial constraints do appear to contribute to non-participation in popular cultural life among certain youth demographics. The article then discusses the theoretical implications of these findings for our understanding of the relationship between cultural consumption, cultural policies, and social inequalities.