Have you ever done an unpaid internship?
New research by the European Youth Forum shows that if you did one last year, it probably cost you about €1,000 per month. If you did one in Belgium, it might have even cost you up to €1,300 per month.
Even worse, that number is expected to go up a lot in 2023 due to the cost of living crisis. The study highlights the financial burden of unpaid internships on young people and how they can disadvantage those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
The Youth Forum compared an average low-income salary in each EU Member State with a "Ramen Noodles only" budget (the monthly costs for only the bare minimum: rent, food, transport and other necessary expenses) and found that in 12 out of 27 EU countries, young people's free income at the end of the month was negative – meaning it was not enough to fully cover basic expenses.
"Our research exposes how unpaid internships deepen inequality among young people coming from different social backgrounds, impose unbearable costs on families, threaten the mental health of young people and create unfair distortions of the labour market," María Rodríguez Alcázar, the European Youth Forum’s President told The Brussels Times.
Nearly 70% of respondents stated that they would not be able to afford unpaid work in the next six months, while more than half of the respondents (53%) also said that they had at least two unpaid internships before they found a paid job.
In Belgium (which last year had one of the highest numbers of unpaid interns), Federal Economy and Employment Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne has actively been working on closing the legislative gap that allows the practice of unpaid internships.
"Internships should be a way to learn something," Dermagne's spokesperson said. "When it comes to disguised employment, there is a problem and when, on top of that, the intern has to incur costs as well, the world is completely upside down."
Do you have any experience with unpaid internships? Let @Maajtee know.
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