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A new research study reveals that unpaid and low-paid internship opportunities are unfair to working-class graduates. These opportunities prefer those from a middle-class background. The study is from the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity. The study shows that the gap between the two demographics is widening, driven by employers continuing to underpay interns and giving opportunities to family and friends rather than advertising them. A poll of more than 1,200 recent graduates shows an increase of 12% in undertaking internships since 2018. Half of those polled have undertaken an internship. The gap between working-class and middle-class graduates has widened to 20% in that time, from 12%.
A recent French and social anthropology student in Scotland named Erin, explained how she had to turn down several unpaid internship opportunities that would leave her financially worse off. One of those was an unpaid internship in London during summer, which Erin ultimately rejected. The cost of staying in the capital, where she had no family or friends to stay with, was too high for the unpaid internship. She mentioned that unpaid, or unfairly paid positions were common, and many take place in affluent areas like London. Erin also informs us that she had to turn down experiences, potentially incredible ones, because she could not stay in London to undertake them.
The Sutton Trust’s research revealed that working-class graduates completing internships are now at 36%, compared to their middle-class peers at 55%. The research also shows that graduates in London were significantly more likely to undertake an internship than those in the West Midlands, Yorkshire, Scotland, and Wales. Additionally, almost three-fifths of internships by recent graduates were unpaid, or underpaid.
Those undertaking unpaid internships were only able to do so because they received money from their parents, lived with family or friends, or used savings. It is clear that the decision for many was whether to get experience in the industry they want to work in or have money for food. The Sutton Trust’s research found that internships were almost twice as likely to have been discovered through family and friends in an organization in comparison to an advertisement, creating a wider access gap. The research states that there were suggestions to curb the practice of unpaid internships in Labour’s “Make Work Pay” plan that was issued before the election.
Another student experience came from politics student Erin Dunne. She stated that almost every internship in the sector was unpaid. The Cardiff student works in a bar, and she had to miss shifts to partake in an unpaid politics scheme in London. The pay for some internships was lower than working a regular summer job. Additionally, there is a huge gap in connections between middle-class and working-class students. In some cases, who you know is more important than what you know
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