Unpaid internships skew social mobility. When a person can undertake unpaid work to gain experience in a high-level field they are not only more fortunate than those without the money to do so, but they also gain an advantage over people on lower incomes in terms of future employment. An aspiring journalist who can spend 12 months at a national newspaper, learning from experienced professionals and making important work contacts, is in a far better position to take on gainful employment with the same or another publication than someone who cannot rely on personal or family wealth to undertake such a dramatic career advancement. To put it another way, unpaid positions for some offer the tantalising prospect of a way in, a chance to learn from some of the best in the business and to then be in a prime position to take on a paid job. For others, the many, they are impossible dreams that are impractical and unaffordable.

The adverse effects on social mobility from instances such as this are obvious. People from wealthier backgrounds can gain higher quality work experience, and land better jobs, than people from low-income backgrounds because of unpaid internships. How is someone from a low-income family, or indeed from outside of London, supposed to rent accommodation, equip themselves and travel to work while not being paid? This impossible equation cannot be solved without taking on ever-burgeoning debt, and many people are understandably put off trying to make their way in a career like the media. The result of this is that certain job sectors are heavily weighted with employees from wealthy backgrounds, while lower-income professionals are squeezed out of the sectors.

How can this situation be alleviated? There are some programmes already in existence which provide high-level internships with financial support to people from lower-income families, therefore providing the privilege and benefit of high-level work experience to the many who are not blessed with material wealth. The Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) gives students in Year 12 the opportunity to work in commerce, banking and financial services which have traditionally been the sector of the ‘knowables’ – that is people with family connections and financial support who can take on a summer in the City through a friend-of-a-friend. The SMF expanded its sector portfolio in the latter part of last year to include the media and management consultancy; taking more problem career paths under its umbrella.

At Labour’s 1999 party conference in Bournemouth Tony Blair said that if he was in politics for one thing, it was “to make sure that all children are given the best chance in life”. Gordon Brown has gone further, suggesting that improving people’s life chances is a “national crusade”. Education has got better, and young people from lower-income families are more likely to get better qualifications than before. But the same old back-slapping favours of those lucky enough to be able to provide work experience beyond compare is holding many people back.

The government’s new Social Mobility White Paper has pledged to create a panel which identifies and removes barriers that prevent fair access to professional jobs. Let’s hope that removing the barrier of unpaid internships and experience is on the agenda with measures which set firm legal guidelines for large companies and corporations to: a) not allow voluntary workers without an advertised application process; b) ensure all placements provide enough money for rent, travel and food; c) more state-funded bursaries with top companies specifically targeting young people from low-income families. I’m sympathetic to possible exemptions for smaller organisations with low turnovers who rely on volunteers willing to put in unpaid hours. Exemptions of this nature wouldn’t affect the overall aim of the changes I’ve outlined, as they are not linked to sectors which are traditionally difficult for people to get into.

To remedy one cause of social immobility and to take a further step towards tackling ingrained deprivation, child poverty and lowered aspirations, the government should act on unpaid internships. As the late Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton so simply put it: “It’s good to get paid.”