The Ethics of Unpaid Internships: Fair Opportunity or Modern Exploitation?

Previously viewed as a step towards a career, unpaid internships are being criticized as exploitative in 2025, with 30.8-58.1% of the internships being unpaid and disproportionately targeting low-income and first-generation students. The protests of the Intern Apocalypse by Gen Z emphasize that these positions are biased towards rich people- 51% of the graduates become an intern, and 35% not paid, restricting access due to high living expenses. Paid interns receive 32% higher full-time offers, which results in inequality and free labor on companies part. This paper balances between ethical issues, legal matters and reforms towards fair opportunities.​ For more labour rights insights and workplace updates, visit our Labour Rights page.

Prevalence and Inequality Trap

Unpaid internships in the arts, media, and technology flourish, and 1 per 5 positions in the UK goes unpaid despite a four-week ban. Women encounter 54.3 percent unpaid rates and middle-class graduates are in power because of the family funding- 40 percent depends on parents. The poor students are unable to afford them, which forms a discriminatory gatekeeping hurdle to social mobility.​

Ethical Dilemmas

The advocates defend it by saying that exposure creates resumes, but the critics refer to it as modern serfdom, where the interns are expected to do revenue-generating work without pay, mostly on full-time basis. Firms save a fortune and intern students rack up debts (8,000+ in Toronto examples) that destroy their egos following numerous performances. In legal terms, many of the so-called employees of the US DOL tests are entitled to wages; the NMW of the UK is relevant unless educative.​

Read Also: Top 10 Jobs for 16-Year-Olds in 2025

Legal and Policy Pushback

The report on 25th by Sutton Trust requires bans >4 weeks, public adverts and NLW remuneration; the UK consultation ends by Oct 2025. Elite colleges restrain credit-only jobs; lawsuits strike companies such as Bell Mobility. Gen Z is intolerant of anything on TikTok and expects value to be returned.​

Reforms for Fairness

• Compliant pay of NMW/NLW on all non-educational internships.
• Shorten time, promote advert transparency/recruitment.
• Encourage equity stipends and alternatives.
• Universities attach credits to paid positions.