Am I the only person who wonders how students survive as 
unpaid interns when they may also have accumulated a huge student loan debt?
A quick glance at the w4mp website where these posts are advertised by MPs shows that the best many of them can expect is travelling expenses.
I do appreciate that students can gain a valuable insight into parliamentary work, it’s a unique and thrilling opportunity and will look great on their CV, but how are they supposed to survive living in London? They cannot live on fresh air. And surely MPs benefit from the input of these bright, sparky graduates and undergraduates.
This is a typical example of what is expected, and it involves much more than just making the tea:
Andrew Stunell MP (Hazel Grove)
salary
Travel expenses by agreement
details
The internship is located in the Andrew Stunell MP’s Westminster office
This internship will provide the candidate with a comprehensive knowledge of the various activities of an MP’s Westminster office, experience of a busy and challenging working environment and a unique opportunity to develop highly marketable skills in a range of research/communication techniques.
Tasks will include:
Candidates should have:
Guidance and some training will be provided.
I wanted to raise this issue after reading of the financial hardship which blogger Martine Martin will face when she takes up her position as an intern in a parliamentary office. It’s an integral part of her Hull University political course, but as Leeds LEA don’t recognise parliament as a "teaching institution", they have cut her loan in half, meaning Martine and a few others have £3100 to survive on for the year.
This is particularly unfair as Martine says other LEAs are awarding full loans – how can that be reasonable? Surely the same guidelines should apply throughout the country.
It takes a brave mum to comment on her daughter’s blog, but Martine’s mum couldn’t hold back:
Can anyone explain to me, in words of 1 syllable, why students only get half-loans from the Student Loans Company when the internship year is part of their course? Especially when London is so expensive? I am a pensioner and Martine’s father has passed away, She will be mad at me for this, but HELP! Who wants to see Martine lost to politics!
I cannot understand why political interns who perform such essential tasks are not paid a minimum wage. Surely MPs are benefiting from their skills. My son wants to undertake a 4-year university economics/business degree course which will include him doing a years work experience with a company in year 3 – and we have been told this will be paid work.
I admire Martine so much for her courage and determination to continue in these difficult circumstances. I suspect many interns have wealthy families to support them, but that is making the role very elitist. If we want our MPs to come from all backgrounds, then the same should apply to interns.
I hope Martine’s MP will at least buy her lunch.
Good luck Martine.
Thank you Ellee, it’s very kind of you to highlight this issue. It’s certainly not just me who are running into problems, there are many others soon to be in dire straights. This is mainly because of bad luck with LEAs and no appeals process.
I and the others on my course were not informed when we began that we could have our student loans cut in half during our compulsory internship year. By the time we found out, it was too late to cut and run! Hence the difficulties.
Now, I have run across articles about the lack of support for those interning in Parliament in the past, including one or two highlighting work by one or two Lib Dem MPs to help a wider range of people into Parliament – not just those with rich parents paying their way for them. It’s good that the Lib Dems at least recognise this problem, but it’s a crying shame the other parties appear to be turning a blind eye.
By the way, I don’t think lunch is on the cards, but travel expenses are. So I can’t complain really! Some interns don’t even get that.
Ellee – do you know of the situation for interns in America?
Martine, it’s a very sorry state of affairs. I just hope someone will pick up on and not allow you and others to suffer such financial hardship, especially as I suspect you will be working very hard.
Philipa, I am not sure about America, this wikipedia link doesn’t mention anything about the US:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intern
I’m now leaving for Bristol, so I’m afraid I can’t check it out any further. I hope someone will come up with an answer over the weekend.
Have a good trip Ellee and good luck Martine.
Unpaid internships are a form of legalized slavery in America, too — but they can be an opportunity.
My Oldest Son finished his junior year in college a couple of years ago with a rising (but still not very good) grade point. He’d interviewed on campus for paid internships and got nothing.
So he came home and got two unpaid internships off Craigslist and worked diligently at both — and with this experience to cite, secured a very good job offer before Christmas his senior year.
So it can work out.
But the whole concept still galls me.
It does seem very unfair to me too. Admittedly it is a huge learning opportunity for them however anyone else doing what they do would be paid so why shouldn’t they at least get minimum wage.
[…] randford wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptMy son wants to undertake a 4-year university economics/business degree course which will include him doing a years work experience with a company in year 3 – and we have been told this will be paid work. … […]
Thanks Ellee for helping to publicise the plight of interns. At the age of 65 i’m considering leaving my voluntary job at Oxfam to get paid work to help Martine, if anyone will employ me in this youth-obsessed world! Also trying to up-sticks and move to London (Housing Assn) to save Martine rent. What happened to the old system of sponsorship?
Martine’s mum, you are a mum in a million. It’s terrible to think that you have to go to such lengths in order to help support Martine financially during her internship.
During my visit to Bristol uni yesterday, I asked how much business students were paid during their year’s placement and was told they could expect £13,500 a year on average. One student even managed to make £55,000!
Why should our young people expect to have to work so hard without earning any money, and support themselves in London, “legalised slavery”, as Curmudgeon put it? Just because it is custom and practice does not mean it is right.
Thanks Ellee, but wouldn’t any parent do the same? This is about Martine and her fellow interns, and I’m sure you and your blogger friends have given the hornets nest a good stir!
Martines Mum, you ask if any other parent would not do the same.
My answer is not to that extreme, and certainly not at your pensionable age.
I personally think it is a deliberate ploy by the establishment to make sure they get a certain class of interns. I think it is very elitist. By not paying the interns it makes it harder for working class teenagers to experience the world of politics.
A friend of mine who is in her late forties has been trying to break into the world of politics for over eighteen months now, and what she has come up against is definite age-ism. They seem to want the young guys in their twenties in badly fitting suits.
MPs would I’m sure love to pay interns for the invaluable support they provide, but unfortunately there just isn’t the budget to do so.
This reflects badly on MPs.
PS Can I recommend my old University – Aston – for sandwich courses. They have a top business school and most of the people who went there have done very well in life.