News
David Ellis: Rich or poor, interns have a right to be paid
13 November 2014
David Ellis, in a comment piece for the Telegraph online, reflected on the Sutton Trust report on internships.
The recent report from the Sutton Trust contained few surprises, but a few startling figures. For anyone who missed it, the Trust found undertaking a sixth month unpaid internship in London costs £5,556 in living costs, or £926 a month.
Those elsewhere fare little better: costs for Manchester came to £4,728.
Both estimations exclude any outlay for travel, as businesses often pay this.
The report noted a third of graduates doing internships were unpaid and called for all interns to receive the national minimum wage. It does not go far enough.
For graduates who can bear the cost of working without a wage, or have the family support, the unpaid internship has become the next step after university. The process follows a simple pattern: scrape a 2:1, work a while unpaid and hopefully – though by no means certainly – land a job vaguely in the desired sector.
Read the full article here.
Media enquiries
If you're a journalist with a question about our work, get in touch with Sam or Rocky on the number below. The number is also monitored out of hours.
E: [email protected] T: 0204 536 4642