Category Archives: Money Tips

Should We Legislate an End to Unpaid Internships?

Posted on by

Today I was speaking to a lovely woman that we meet every few years and catching up on her news sort of like in the old play Same Time Next Year. I asked how her adult children were doing and what I heard made me angry. The discussion left me wondering should we legislate an end to unpaid internships?

Unpaid Internships Used to be Common in Publishing, Theatre, and Broadcasting

Back in the early Cretaceous when I went to school, unpaid internships were unusual but not unheard of. Certain industries were prone to them. Publishing companies, including those producing books, magazines and newspapers, often required prospective editors and staff writers to start by working for free. Their jobs were often menial at first, involving making coffee and filing reports. Gradually they were assigned writing and editing jobs and eventually if the stars aligned they were hired as cub reporters and editorial assistants. These publishers were often barely solvent and couldn’t afford to hire many new staff.

Theatre was another area where the companies rarely made money so to get a start many aspiring actors, stage hands, and directors had to serve time in unpaid positions. Radio, TV and presumably internet broadcasters also worked on thin margins. Some used it as an excuse to weed out potential new hires by making them “pay their dues” by working for free until an opening could be found.

Are Unpaid Internships Now Just Slave Labour Practices?

Something seems to have changed since those days when the dinosaurs were dying off. Now it seems unpaid internships are the norm in many fields and industries.

Why?

The woman I was speaking with was explaining her child had completed her degree and was ready to start working as a music therapist. The position she wanted, however, required her to have 1000 hours of unpaid internship work in the field.

One THOUSAND  hours. That’s about 6 months of working with no pay.

How Can Someone Pay the Rent While Working for No Pay?

Her child agreed to the terms required because she loves the work and wants very much to succeed. She had to pay her rent, buy her food and pay her transit to get to her unpaid job, not just for a week or two, but for months.

The apartment she could afford with no pay required her to spend 3 hours a day commuting. She had to take 2 buses, a train, and walk 1 km each time she went to work or came home. The hours demanded of her were excessive, often up to 12 hours per day. That left no time to hold a part-time job except on weekends to pay her living costs.

How is this reasonable? How is this right?

What’s the Solution to this Problem?

This is not the first time I’ve heard this kind of personal story of an unpaid internship. It’s left me wondering: Is it time to crack down on these practices? Should we be legislating a maximum length of time that people can be required to work unpaid?

I don’t have the answers but I certainly have lots of questions.

Related Reading

Join In
Have you had to work as an unpaid intern? Has someone in your family? Please share your experiences with a comment.

Mortgage Matters

Posted on by

I have a relative who bought a house in downtown Toronto and paid the entire purchase price in cash. I still can’t quite grasp how he did it. (No, he was not wealthy. He worked in a small retail store. No, it wasn’t in the 1930s either.) For most of the rest of us, a mortgage is an essential for home ownership. Here’s some interesting articles I’ve read recently about mortgage matters.

While personally I disagree strongly with the statement “With the low interest rates available today there is often no benefit in continuing to rent while trying to save 20% to eliminate the CMHC fee.” I found the overview of mortgage types and terms very clear in Boomer’s article: “How To Pick The Perfect Mortgage.”

Collateral vs Conventional Mortgages
One thing that needs an article of its own to explain, however, is the difference between conventional and collateral mortgages. My parents and I had a conventional so I didn’t even know collaterals existed. I think some people are getting themselves into a collateral mortgage without really understanding how it differs from the old kind. In “Decoding Mortgages”  Marketplace tries to clarify the differences, and the disadvantages of collateral mortgages.

Mark Weisleder at The Star also discusses this topic in “Beware the pitfalls of collateral mortgages.” He makes the interesting statement “Some lenders are offering collateral mortgages in a “negative option billing” manner. Unless you are informed enough to say you want a conventional mortgage, you will be asked to sign documents for a collateral mortgage.” Buyer beware indeed!

Home Hunting
Krystal Yee reminds us that we should think about what we really want and need from a home before buying in How I Chose My First Home.Sometimes picking the right home reduces the cost and the mortgage required.

Paying Off the Mortgage
This is a popular topic among finance writers.

The Passive Income Earner summarizes many of the best methods in Mortgage Strategies. He does mention one high risk possibility called the Smith Manoeuvre. May I cordially suggest you don’t try that one? Thank you.

Mortgage Vs HELOC
Jane discusses her challenge in choosing between a Mortgage and a Home Equity Line of Credit, raising important concerns about both in “Maybe I Should Get a Mortgage.”

Related Reading

Join In
Do you have a mortgage? Conventional or Collateral or do you know? Any tips or tricks to share with the rest of us? Please share your experiences with a comment.