Call to ban unpaid internships

Sir Peter Lampl is quoted by the Times, the Guardian, the Mirror and Glasgow Herald in support of banning unpaid internships, as parliament debated the issue.

The Social Mobility Commission released a polling this week revealing that almost 3/4 of the public support banning unpaid internships that last over four weeks with 42% strongly supporting the ban. Sutton Trust founder and chairman, Sir Peter Lampl, commented:

“Unpaid internships are a major obstacle to social mobility. Our research has shown that it costs an intern with no roots in the capital approximately £1,000 a month to live there. Unpaid internships prevent young people from low- and moderate-income backgrounds from getting into some of the most competitive sectors like the media, city and the arts.

It is no surprise that a majority of the public want to see an end to them. We welcome the commission’s call to ban unpaid internships that last for more than 4 weeks. There also needs to be greater transparency in recruiting for these positions, so that young people without professional networks are not at a disadvantage.”

Sir Peter was quoted by the Times, the Guardian, the Mirror, the Glasgow Herald, FE news, Business Reporter and the Morning Star.

You can read the full press release from the Social Mobility Commission here.

On Friday 27th October, Lord Holmes’ bill calling to ban unpaid internships over four weeks received its second reading in the House of Lords. The bill successfully passed to a Committee of the whole house. The BBC cited Sutton Trust research on internships in an article covering the debate.

You can read the full debate here and find our research on internships here.