Employers should be required to pay their interns a minimum wage salary.

Every year undergraduate and graduate students alike swarm the internet for an opportunity to intern in their work sector of choice.

It is said that the job market is competitive, and very aware of society’s acceptance of many entry level jobs requiring three to five years of work experience in addition to higher education, students in the United States view internships as a form of that required experience.

A great deal more, believe internships to be an opportunity for obtaining employment after graduation.

Unfortunately, many of these internships do not pay an adequate salary, that is if they pay one at all.

The worst perpetrators are those in the public sector.

Not only is this not acceptable, the lack of salaries provided in the public sector stimulate the lack of access of opportunity for citizens under the protected class and reinforces income inequality in the United States.

By not providing students adequate pay for similar, if not exact job responsibilities as their salaried employees, organizations of employment are creating a system of exploitation.

As active participants of our society, should we continue to support or allow this form of exploitation?

One can argue that interns are not being exploited for those employed have chosen to participate in this style of volunteer work by choice.

Yet, if work experience is required for many entry level jobs, and opportunities for these experiences are scarce, then is it truly an act of choice?

If this is true, then it is also an act of choice to allow for companies to progress these aforementioned expectations.

It is evident that employers have taken advantage of the economic market competition to exploit those willing.

I use the term willing loosely because if I were to poll students across the United States, I am sure I would find college students viewing internships, even if unpaid, as a requirement in order to find a job after their graduation.

Employers’ expectations of new graduates compared to what they must invest in in training, and for how much they need to pay their employees, has become unrealistic.

Studies show that while companies complain that young workers aren’t getting the right degrees, what employers really look for are workers they don’t have to train.

Better yet, employees they don’t have to pay to train, or at times, even hire.

According to a study published by the Washington Post, in 1979, young workers got an average of 2.5 weeks of training a year.

An Accenture study showed that in 2011, only about a fifth of employees reported getting on-the-job training from their employers over the past five years.

In other words, job candidates must find their own way to gain experience, primarily this is done through internships, most unpaid.

Now why is this a major problem? Well, besides organizations of employment taking advantage of a vulnerable class, students, organizations that refuse to pay their interns for work that influence the productivity of their organization, reinforce income inequality and discrimination.

Those in the United States most susceptible to economic inequalities are women and people of color.

I am not stating that members of society who are not under the protected class, or those who are but are not included under the aforementioned categories do not suffer from economic inequalities. What I am stating is that those who are deemed women and people of color suffer exponentially more in comparison.

“It is evident that employers have taken advantage of the economic market competition to exploit those willing.”

Since rates of financial hardships are higher for students of the protected class, many do not pursue internships because they cannot afford the living expenses.

This a major concern for the public sector.

Similar to for-profit corporations, jobs in government require experience as a measure of employment.

The more experience the more competitive an applicant is.

But unlike for-profit corporations that have higher amounts of paid internships, government internships steer clear.

This results in lower participation rates for those who cannot afford to volunteer, which in turn, results in lower rates of job success and representation in the government sector.

Public organizations and nonprofits have attempted to act on where our institutions fail.

In terms of funding internships, many undergraduate colleges and universities across the United States provide their students with a modest stipend to pursue an unpaid internship. There are non-profit organizations that offer scholarships in attempt to reduce the opportunity access gap.

Most recently, employers are now holding competitions to provide stipends.

Yet the question still remains.

Is it morally and ethically justifiable to allow corporations to hire unpaid workers in society’s modern economic climate, especially when these organizations are part of the government and supported by taxes?

While internships are a learning experience, it is reasonable for interns to be paid.

In addition to studies that show that paying interns draw the best talent, not paying an individual for work elevates inequalities and systems of oppression.