23% Of PR Interns Are Still Unpaid

The payment or lack of for PR interns is frequently discussed yet nothing seems to change and the figures speak for themselves. Public Relations is one of the most desirable graduate careers yet one of the most difficult to get into due to the widespread unfairness many interns face. It is now estimated that around 23% of interns receive no payment at all and only 28% of intern wages meet national minimum wage.

"Ben Lyons, who is co-director at Intern Aware, a campaign focusing on promoting fair access to the internship system, said the survey provided proof that PR has ‘an unpaid internships problem’.
‘Interning is becoming essential for graduates looking to get a job in PR and where these positions are unpaid, graduates who can’t afford to work for free are priced out,’"
 http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/1137165/demand-action-intern-pay-pr-industry/

Many internships in London offer zone specific travel expenses and lunch. What this means is that for such positions to be a possibility, the intern will preferably live in London and have parental support or financial backing of another kind. The long road ahead may be disappointing and long with no guarantee of a position post internship. Its fiercely competitive and without any promise of fruition. The Trade Union Congress suggested one in three interns were unpaid back in 2010. When that data is viewed in the light of poor or minimum payment there is a marked increase in the number of desperate, out of work graduates who are being are exploited. The recession has certainly influenced the appeal of free labour.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/26/interns-unpaid-work-tuc?INTCMP=SRCH

The PR industry has also been criticised for its lack of diversity. What we are seeing is a trend apparent in many other city centred careers, such as the legal profession. Barriers keep a tight net of who is allowed in. Graduates from affluent background have the easiest access to opportunities whilst the working class struggle to get onto the career ladder, up to their necks in student loan debt. The white, middle class glass ceiling is yet to be broken. As the old saying goes, nobody is prevented from having tea at the Ritz, but that does not mean that everyone can. It's about time the government took hold of internships in general which may be illegal as well as tremendously unfair.