Owen Jones: Unpaid internships rig the system. Curb them, now.

In Britain, in 2014, we are compelled to debate whether people should work for free. Unpaid internships have become a pillar of the modern British class system, discriminating on the basis of wealth rather than talent. The system acts as a filter for entire professions, helping to transform them into closed shops for the uber-privileged. Not only are they exploitative, they effectively allow the children of the well-to-do to buy up positions in the upper echelons of British society. But, finally, it is possible – just possible – that this key means of rigging Britain in favour of a small elite faces its reckoning. On Tuesday, Labour shadow minister Liam Byrne will return to his old school to set out the case for dealing with this national scandal. Despite some internal resistance, Labour’s leadership are moving towards backing a four-week limit on unpaid internships.

According to the Sutton Trust, more than one in three graduate interns are working for nothing. At any given time, the charity estimates, 21,000 are working unpaid, although a 2010 estimate by the thinktank IPPR put the figure at 100,000. For those unable to rely on the Bank of Mum and Dad, such unabashed exploitation can be completely unaffordable. Unpaid internships are often gateways to professions – like, for example, law, the media, the tragically professionalised political world – and are all too frequently located in London, one of the most expensive cities on Earth. The Sutton Trust estimates that a single person in London will have to cough up £5,556 for the privilege of undertaking an unpaid internship for six months; in Manchester it is not much cheaper, at £4,728.

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