News
BackAccording to a current survey of the European Youth Forum, typical European interns are between 20 to 30 years old. Their internship lasts between 4 to 6 months. Only 25 % are able to support themselves on the basis of their internship pay. Nevertheless, the majority does one to two internships; hence they spend up to one year in precarious employment. They are inadequately paid and - independent of the economic sector - are only able to make ends meet with the support of their parents, savings or other financial benefits. The main motive for doing an internship is the anticipated better chance to obtain a regular job at a later stage.
Internship survey 2011 of the European Youth Forum
In September 2011, the European Youth Forum, an independent and democratic platform of over 90 youth organisations and national youth advisory boards across Europe, published a survey on internship quality in Europe. More than 3,000 contributions of current or former interns give an insight into the everyday life of internships. 1/3 of the respondents commented on postgraduate internships, 1/5 on mandatory internships. Most strongly represented in the survey were young Europeans from Germany, Italy, France, UK, Spain and Rumania.
Motivation: good for the CV, but often no alternative
77 % percent said that the main motivation for doing an internship or internships was to upgrade their CV in order to improve their chances with regard to future job applications. 42 % regard their internship as an initial testing ground for their future careers. However, 1/5 of the respondents (19 %) did internships for a completely different reason: because they were unable to find any other employment opportunity.
Common practice and necessary investment
The results of this survey indicate that internships have become the norm for young Europeans in higher education. The costs involved for them and their families are regarded as a necessary investment in future job opportunities.
An income to make ends meet: this only applies to a quarter of interns
Every second internship (51 %) was unpaid. Even of those who were paid, less than half of the young people (49 %) were able to cover their cost of living and another 6 % were able to meet part of their expenses. The remaining 45 % of those working as a paid intern were not even able to cover their daily expenses. Overall, only 25 % of the interns questioned received an income that was sufficient to live on. 75 % of the participants did receive an inadequate or no salary at all. Hence, the insufficient remuneration of interns is common practice. At the same time, the large number of written contracts confirms that this is an accepted phenomenon and that it now seems to be a matter of course not to pay young employees adequately.
For a start, one needs to be able to afford an internship!
How do young people finance the initial professional experience, which is obviously expected by the labour market? The replies show that interns mainly rely on the support of their parents or live off their own savings. 2/3 of interns are supported by their parents (64.7 %), 1/3 live off their own savings (35.3 %), 1/5 receive a grant (20.3 %). Nevertheless, 12.8 % have to get a job in addition to their internship to cover their living expenses; otherwise they would not be able to afford to work as an unpaid intern.
Underpayment - a widely used strategy
Most underpaid or unpaid internships are found in private, for-profit companies (28 %). However, even less financially strong NGOs (27 %) and non-profit making public institutions (23 %) do not or only inadequately remunerate interns. Even though for-profit companies are heading this inglorious statistic, the minor differences, however, show that the culture of paying young inters insufficiently is a widespread strategy. It has little to do with the financial capacity of the organisation offering the internship. Even the public sector does not pay its interns adequately.
Parents and taxpayers finance inexpensive employees
63 % of respondents did one or two internships. However, the remaining 37 % have completed three or more internships. Surely, nobody can accuse these young people of a lack of professional experience. Nevertheless, the number of internships has no effect on payment! Furthermore, the remuneration does not bear any relation to the education and qualifications of the interns. In many cases, the so-called “lack of experience” seems to serve as a bogus argument for the reluctance of employers to provide young people with entry level jobs, which they remunerate accordingly. Hence, parents and taxpayers provide companies with “cheap labour”.
Entry into the labour market
Some of the interns confirm the expected better job opportunities through paid internships. 16 % of respondents were offered a job at the end of their internship by the company they had worked for. Based on their internship, another 18 % got a job with a different employer. Hence, about 1/3 of the respondents did indeed benefit from their completed internship when they entered the labour market. However, one has to consider that in most cases, young people had to do more than one internship; hence, the success rate pro internship is lower.
Conclusions of the European Youth Forum
The European Youth Forum draws the following conclusions from the survey results:
•Entry level jobs for young people to enter the labour market are predominantly replaced by un(der)paid internships.
•Internships are now regarded as a necessity - as a supplement to formal education, independent of the fact of whether these internships are an official part of a vocational training or whether they are done on a voluntary basis.
•Young people coming from a more affluent background are at an advantage - thanks to the financial support their parents are able to provide, they have the opportunity of gaining access to the labour market via insufficiently paid internships.
•Due to the trend towards postgraduate internships, young people remain to a large degree economically dependent on their parents once they have completed their training.
•Internships are now regarded as a basic requirement for entering the labour market. The chances of young people to live autonomously and to lead a financially secure life after they have completed their education, have been reduced significantly.
The European Youth Forum regards European quality standards for internships as necessary and urges in particular the public sector to lead by example in respect to its interns.
Further Information:
Survey „Interns revealed“ of the European Youth Forum
In September 2011, the European Youth Forum, an independent and democratic platform of over 90 youth organisations and national youth advisory boards across Europe, published a survey on internship quality in Europe. More than 3,000 contributions of current or former interns give an insight into the everyday life of internships. 1/3 of the respondents commented on postgraduate internships, 1/5 on mandatory internships. Most strongly represented in the survey were young Europeans from Germany, Italy, France, UK, Spain and Rumania.
Motivation: good for the CV, but often no alternative
77 % percent said that the main motivation for doing an internship or internships was to upgrade their CV in order to improve their chances with regard to future job applications. 42 % regard their internship as an initial testing ground for their future careers. However, 1/5 of the respondents (19 %) did internships for a completely different reason: because they were unable to find any other employment opportunity.
Common practice and necessary investment
The results of this survey indicate that internships have become the norm for young Europeans in higher education. The costs involved for them and their families are regarded as a necessary investment in future job opportunities.
An income to make ends meet: this only applies to a quarter of interns
Every second internship (51 %) was unpaid. Even of those who were paid, less than half of the young people (49 %) were able to cover their cost of living and another 6 % were able to meet part of their expenses. The remaining 45 % of those working as a paid intern were not even able to cover their daily expenses. Overall, only 25 % of the interns questioned received an income that was sufficient to live on. 75 % of the participants did receive an inadequate or no salary at all. Hence, the insufficient remuneration of interns is common practice. At the same time, the large number of written contracts confirms that this is an accepted phenomenon and that it now seems to be a matter of course not to pay young employees adequately.
For a start, one needs to be able to afford an internship!
How do young people finance the initial professional experience, which is obviously expected by the labour market? The replies show that interns mainly rely on the support of their parents or live off their own savings. 2/3 of interns are supported by their parents (64.7 %), 1/3 live off their own savings (35.3 %), 1/5 receive a grant (20.3 %). Nevertheless, 12.8 % have to get a job in addition to their internship to cover their living expenses; otherwise they would not be able to afford to work as an unpaid intern.
Underpayment - a widely used strategy
Most underpaid or unpaid internships are found in private, for-profit companies (28 %). However, even less financially strong NGOs (27 %) and non-profit making public institutions (23 %) do not or only inadequately remunerate interns. Even though for-profit companies are heading this inglorious statistic, the minor differences, however, show that the culture of paying young inters insufficiently is a widespread strategy. It has little to do with the financial capacity of the organisation offering the internship. Even the public sector does not pay its interns adequately.
Parents and taxpayers finance inexpensive employees
63 % of respondents did one or two internships. However, the remaining 37 % have completed three or more internships. Surely, nobody can accuse these young people of a lack of professional experience. Nevertheless, the number of internships has no effect on payment! Furthermore, the remuneration does not bear any relation to the education and qualifications of the interns. In many cases, the so-called “lack of experience” seems to serve as a bogus argument for the reluctance of employers to provide young people with entry level jobs, which they remunerate accordingly. Hence, parents and taxpayers provide companies with “cheap labour”.
Entry into the labour market
Some of the interns confirm the expected better job opportunities through paid internships. 16 % of respondents were offered a job at the end of their internship by the company they had worked for. Based on their internship, another 18 % got a job with a different employer. Hence, about 1/3 of the respondents did indeed benefit from their completed internship when they entered the labour market. However, one has to consider that in most cases, young people had to do more than one internship; hence, the success rate pro internship is lower.
Conclusions of the European Youth Forum
The European Youth Forum draws the following conclusions from the survey results:
•Entry level jobs for young people to enter the labour market are predominantly replaced by un(der)paid internships.
•Internships are now regarded as a necessity - as a supplement to formal education, independent of the fact of whether these internships are an official part of a vocational training or whether they are done on a voluntary basis.
•Young people coming from a more affluent background are at an advantage - thanks to the financial support their parents are able to provide, they have the opportunity of gaining access to the labour market via insufficiently paid internships.
•Due to the trend towards postgraduate internships, young people remain to a large degree economically dependent on their parents once they have completed their training.
•Internships are now regarded as a basic requirement for entering the labour market. The chances of young people to live autonomously and to lead a financially secure life after they have completed their education, have been reduced significantly.
The European Youth Forum regards European quality standards for internships as necessary and urges in particular the public sector to lead by example in respect to its interns.
Further Information:
Survey „Interns revealed“ of the European Youth Forum