Manovra, here are the measures for young people: from the Culture Bonus to tax relief for textbooks

Incentives to support youth employment in the SEZ, more funds for textbooks and scholarships. And again: ad hoc resources for training on first aid and against bullying. These are just some of the measures contained in the manoeuvre that look more closely at young people. Let us see them in detail.

The manoeuvre establishes a new cultural promotion initiative aimed at young people who obtain a high school diploma. More specifically, starting in 2027, there will be an electronic card called the 'Bonus Valore Cultura', destined for young people who, starting in 2026, graduate from upper secondary school by the age of nineteen. The Card, which supersedes previous initiatives on the subject, is awarded in the year following graduation and represents a tool to promote access to culture. With this card (the sums loaded do not constitute taxable income and are not relevant for Isee purposes), it will be possible to purchase cultural goods and services, such as tickets for theatre and film shows, books, subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals, including digital ones, recorded music, musical instruments, entrance to museums, exhibitions and cultural events, as well as music, theatre, dance or foreign language courses. An annual amount of EUR 180 million is put on the plate, starting in 2027.

Another novelty concerns scholarships, with an allocation of EUR 250 million to increase the scholarship fund.

In the estimate of the Ministry of the Interior there is also a fund of 20 million euro per year starting from 2026, to be distributed among the municipalities for the disbursement of contributions to be allocated directly to families with an Isee not exceeding 30,000 euro for the expenses for the purchase of school books, including digital ones, indicated in the adoption lists, intended for secondary school, provided that they have not enjoyed other forms of support for the same purpose. An inter-ministerial decree will have to define the methods and criteria for allocating the fund.

There is also a partial decontribution for stable hirings in the SEZ. The manoeuvre allocates EUR 154 million for 2026, EUR 400 million for 2027, and EUR 271 million for 2028 with the aim of increasing stable youth employment, and favouring equal opportunities for disadvantaged female workers in the Special Economic Zone for Southern Italy. It finances the partial exemption from the payment of social security contributions by private employers, with the exclusion of premiums and contributions due to INAIL, for a maximum period of twenty-four months, for the hiring from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 of non-managerial personnel with an open-ended employment contract or for the transformation, in the same time frame, of the employment contract from a fixed-term to an open-ended contract. A decree of the Minister of Labour, in agreement with the Minister of the Economy, will regulate the interventions, requirements and conditions necessary to ensure compliance with the spending limit.