Interns Revealed: European Youth Forum presents results of pan-European survey on the situation of young interns

Article from: http://www.youthforum.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1112%3Ainterns-revealed-european-youth-forum-presents-results-of-pan-european-survey-on-the-situation-of-young-interns&catid=28%3Acurrent-users&Itemid=89&lang=en

Brussels, 20th September 2011 // From April until June 2011, the European Youth Forum conducted a survey to discover the situation of interns throughout Europe. Amongst the almost 4,000 people  who responded to the survey, 3 out of 4 of respondents received either no, or insufficient compensation for their internship. The survey, which was promoted in more than 19 languages, gathers solid data for efforts towards a European Quality Charter on Internships which aims to help develop a set of Europe-wide standards for internships.

For the current generation of young people, internships have become a must to enter the labour market. More and more young interns have unfortunately found themselves as subjects of cheap labour, often performing tasks with no contribution to their educational objectives or career, and have no access to either social security or health insurance.

Research into the survey responses highlighted that most of those who perform internships are under 25, with placements typically lasting 4 – 6 months and are often followed by a second internship. Importantly, almost half of the respondents conducted their internships as a part of their formal studies, 77% of which were in higher education. Those who participated in the survey underlined that the most common ways of finding an internship was by applying directly to organisations, internet searches, or making use of personal connections. Core motivations of the respondents for applying for internships was to improve CVs, future job opportunities or simply because of the lack of available jobs.

Although most interns who participated in the survey have had contracts, 3 out of 4 of respondents received either no, or insufficient compensation. This observation did not vary between sectors, which implies that the issue is vastly widespread. Of those who were not paid or were insufficiently compensated, most generally relied on parental support, savings, or other forms of external financial means.

“It is unacceptable that in the current situation internships prevent social mobility and discriminate against those who are not able to afford being unpaid,” Peter Matjašič, President of the European Youth Forum says, “we believe there should be quality standards for internships and apprenticeships in Europe to enable young people to take back their rights as interns!”

The European Youth Forum remains convinced that internships should be primarily a learning experience and should provide recognised working experience that develops the skills of young people and elevate their professional capacity.

The results of the European Youth Forum survey: “Interns Revealed” are going to be presented in the European Parliament on 20th September in partnership with MEP Emilie Turunen. The full report on the survey’s results are available online here: http://bit.ly/internsrevealedresults