**Museums have a wide range of benefits to individuals and society as a whole therefore should be accessible to all regardless of economic status** - Museums can [increase our sense of wellbeing](https://www.museumsassociation.org/campaigns/museums-change-lives/the-impact-of-museums/#) as well as exposing us to a wealth of different areas, disciplines and cultures (with Museums ranging all the way from the science museum to the Museum of childhood, Stockholm even had an ABBA museum) - Museums are also an invaluable [educational resource](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042812040840) for [children's and adults alike](https://exhibitconcepts.com/cultural-treasures-the-importance-of-museums-in-our-communities/) - [Museums can also act as community spaces, education hubs and outreach centres](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10598650.2002.11510454) - [Therefore Museums must be free to local people as it is important to learn about the culture and history of local areas and there are a wealth of personal and societal benefits therefore these should be available to all regardless of economic status not only those who can afford it](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1547306/)

**It would be nice in theory for museum admission to be free for locals, but in practice, it could mean museums have less money available for other important purposes.** - While free museum admissions for locals would support the use and enjoyment of important cultural prospects (imagine--one could for instance go every day to the same museum during a break from work to see a different painting, or to sit in a different room and enjoy the atmosphere), in practice, it might mean there's less money for other things. - Some museums can be [fully supported](https://www.jobmonkey.com/museumjobs/museum-operations-support/) by increased donations and better management of costs. But, doing so would take away revenue that could be used for other important things: - Increased research capabilities - More extensive restoration efforts - More imaginative exhibitions - Furthered connections to other community projects at large, like media companies offering collaboration with other types of programming - Targeted free admission for certain groups to make a larger impact - Additionally, if government started funding museums, we could run into the problem of funds channeling only towards those areas which the government deemed worthy, leaving smaller, local specializations out of the mix. This may not be a problem, however, if the local governments of each museum are able to support free admission for locals; in these cases, the locality and specialties of each museum would be inherently supported and augmented. - Perhaps a good course of action would be to let some museums choose to be free for locals, and some not, depending on whether wealthy donors and/or local government can step in to offer support without removing/limiting an important source of revenue and thus squashing the potential for greater research and restoration efforts, among other things. - I should note that this argument depends on whether locals comprise a large proportion of the visitors to a museum. For some museums, it may be tourists which make up the majority of visitors. For others, locals may be most of the list. Local free admission may only take away from museum- and culture- enhancing revenue streams in cases where locals generate most of the ticket sales.