Youth vouchers valued at 20 euros, intended for those born in 2005 and 2006, were initially scheduled to expire today.
The implementation report from the Directorate-General for Books, Archives, and Libraries (DGLAB) indicated that as of Tuesday, the day before the deadline, “44,959 vouchers were issued, and 34,442 have been used.”
This reflects a lower execution rate compared to the estimated potential, with only 20% of vouchers issued and 15% redeemed, implying that over 185,000 vouchers remained unused.
“Considering that this measure could still benefit its potential beneficiaries, many currently attending secondary or post-secondary education, it is justified to extend the measure’s term to a date after the end of the academic year to reach a greater number of effective beneficiaries,” stated a directive from Secretary of State for Culture, Alberto Santos.
The regulation of the voucher program, created by an ordinance in March 2024, stipulated that vouchers for that year were to be used by beneficiaries by September 30, 2024, later extended to April 23, due to delays in setting up the voucher issuance platform.
The program officially kicked off on October 31.
Initially, 30,000 vouchers were issued in the program’s first month (over 11,000 within the first two days). However, only an additional 10,000 vouchers were issued from early December to early March, totaling 40,000.
At the time, Miguel Pauseiro, President of the Portuguese Association of Publishers and Booksellers (APEL), acknowledged in an interview that the measure fell “short of expectations.” APEL was collaborating closely with the Ministry of Culture and the DGLAB “to diagnose problems and find solutions to expedite the process.”
Pauseiro also pointed out that the voucher value did not meet expectations, differing significantly from the 100 euros proposed by APEL, which he believed was “compatible with the goal of creating readers.”
“We don’t create readers through the purchase of a single book; we create readers with consistent reading habits, which entails more than one purchase,” he emphasized at the time.
The APEL president also stressed the importance of adjusting and strengthening communication with young people to encourage participation and streamline access to the vouchers, noting operational challenges like the requirement of a digital mobile key.
Per the new directive from the Secretary of State, the voucher program’s usage deadline has been extended to July 15, 2025.
