Research by the Sutton Trust indicates that unpaid or low-paid internships are creating barriers to careers for young people from working-class backgrounds. Middle-class graduates are more likely to access these internships, with a widening gap between the two groups. The trust noted that 55% of middle-class graduates undertook internships compared to just 36% from working-class families. Despite legal changes since 2018, 61% of internships remain unpaid or underpaid, pushing disadvantaged youths out of essential career opportunities, emphasizing the need to ban such practices to ensure fairness in access to professional growth.
Internships are an increasingly critical route into the best jobs, and it's shocking that in this day and age, many employers still pay interns below the minimum wage, or worse, nothing at all. They should be ashamed.
Banning this outdated practice will help to level the playing field for these valuable opportunities. It's a no-brainer and should be implemented without delay.
The gap between the two groups has widened substantially since its previous survey in 2018, from 12 to 19 percentage points.
Unpaid or underpaid internships had persisted in spite of law changes since 2018, making up 61% of those on offer and forcing interns to subsidise themselves during their placements.
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