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