tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post8535173247478366586..comments2024-03-12T22:31:46.500-04:00Comments on What Would Phoebe Do?: "A little humility"Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-22253657746882121732012-05-24T08:10:23.838-04:002012-05-24T08:10:23.838-04:00Britta,
Your first point - the assumption that yo...Britta,<br /><br />Your first point - the assumption that young people who aren't from poor or working-class families don't need to be paid for their labor - will get its own post.<br /><br />Re: your sister, just as it's understandable that people take unpaid internships, it's clear enough why they're offered. That doesn't make it OK to offer them, but who am I to say that your sister must spearhead this change?<br /><br />A few points:<br /><br />-An internship with a stipend, even a small one, is still better than unpaid. If it's part-time and held while someone's in school (as in, no relocation needed), yes, ideally it would pay minimum wage, but the fact that it doesn't pay enough for rent/groceries isn't necessarily a problem. And there's one important difference - their labor is being recognized as worth <i>something</i>. <br /><br />(Disclaimer: I spent one relatively idle summer in college living at home and working only a part-time stipend-providing internship, because that's what I got for that summer. It probably did pay at least minimum wage, but I think I made more per week during the year at my campus job.)<br /><br />-Don't reveal anyone's identities or anything, but how do you know these interns are "1%ers"? If they're in college and working (almost) for free, and don't then waitress all night to pay for that, it could be because their families agreed to support them (perhaps with great sacrifice, and with the assumption of loans, scholarships...) and not because they're so well-off that money isn't and will never be an issue.<br /><br />-As for whether or not your sister would have ever taken one... I was always adamant that I never would, and I'm certainly not keen these days, as an actual grown-up who needs an actual income, but I think the norms are shifting quickly, and these days college students looking to enter several professions genuinely don't consider that these could be avoided, and they basically can't. Savvy kids might get extra scholarships to subsidize taking them in the summers, but that's about as much as can be hoped for, certainly not that the company itself will pay them anything. It isn't even necessary for companies to include an little 'it's unpaid, but...' disclaimer in a <a href="http://www.refinery29.com/refinery29-editorial-internship" rel="nofollow">posting</a>.Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-53750646687470132222012-05-24T00:57:57.054-04:002012-05-24T00:57:57.054-04:00I also think it's terrible. I think that in pr...I also think it's terrible. I think that in principle exploiting middle or upper class people is no better than exploiting poor people, and I really despise how UMC people are made to feel guilty for doing things like demanding that businesses abide by labor laws. Part of the problem is that if you see labor laws or government benefits as only things that apply to poor people, then people are less willing to support them. Full disclosure, my sister has unpaid interns (they get a stipend of about $900 for 2 months of work) who (have I said this before?) are Ivy League 1%ers. Though my sister, who is not much older than her interns, would never worked as an unpaid intern herself, if that says something.Brittahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02224221011978374915noreply@blogger.com