A social mobility charity has warned that unpaid or low-paid internships are preventing young people from working-class or disadvantaged backgrounds from entering certain careers, while benefiting middle-class graduates. The Sutton Trust’s research found that middle-class graduates are more likely to use internships as stepping stones into sectors like finance and IT, even when the positions pay nothing or below the minimum wage.
Nick Harrison, chief executive of the Sutton Trust, said: “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.” He added that the government’s pledge to ban unpaid internships is “absolutely the right thing to do” and should be implemented without delay.
A survey of 1,200 recent graduates commissioned by the trust revealed that 55% of middle-class young people had undertaken internships, compared with just 36% from working-class families. The gap between the two groups has widened substantially since the trust’s previous survey in 2018, from 12 to 19 percentage points. Unpaid or underpaid internships made up 61% of those on offer, forcing interns to subsidise themselves during placements.
Graduates taking unpaid internships reported relying on money from parents, living with family or friends, or using savings. Real-estate employers were the most likely to offer low or no pay, followed by construction, IT, finance and legal sectors. The retail sector was the most likely to pay at least the minimum wage, followed by media, marketing and advertising companies.
The Sutton Trust is calling for unpaid internships lasting four weeks or longer to be banned, along with better enforcement of minimum wage legislation. It found no evidence of companies being prosecuted for failing to pay interns as required. A YouGov survey commissioned by the trust showed that 38% of employers in Great Britain support a ban on unpaid internships, while 30% want better enforcement of minimum wage laws.
