Unpaid Internships and the Generational Wealth Gap

Published: Nov. 20, 2019, 8:01 p.m.

Today's guest hosts are Brent J. Cohen, Executive Director of Generation Progress, and Charlotte Hancock, Communications Director for Generation Progress.

They discuss unpaid internships and the generational wealth gap.

Earlier today, people peacefully gathered in Freedom Plaza in D.C. to call on employers to end the practice of unpaid internships and commit to paying interns for their work. Unpaid internships can be financially difficult or impossible for many young people to take on, but having prior internship experience is often critical for young people who are job-searching. This ultimately leaves young people who cannot afford to take on unpaid internships at a major disadvantage for years into their careers.

To dive deeper into this issue and the people it most affects, Brent and Charlotte are joined by two current interns who helped plan today’s 'Interns for Change' Rally,
Griffen Saul—the co-founder and CEO of 'We Are Able,' an Advocacy and Community Engagement Intern at the United Nations Foundation, and Initiative Coordinator for 'Interns for Change.' (Twitter - @GriffenSaul)
And Jaylun Hutchison—an investigative reporting intern at Voice of America, who has also been involved in the 'Interns For Change' initiative. (Twitter - @BLACKLVRBOY)You can find more information on 'Interns for Change' at www.PayTheInterns.com.

The website for "Generation Progress" is www.GenProgress.org and their Twitter Handle is @GenProgress.  Brent J. Cohen's Twitter handle is @BrentJCohen and Charlotte Hancock's handle is @CharlatAnne.