An overwhelming majority of the UK public support the introduction of a ban on unpaid internships lasting 4 weeks or more. New polling data released by the Social Mobility Commission, found that 72 percent of the public back a change in the law – with 42 percent ‘strongly supporting’ a ban. The survey also reveals that 80 percent of people want companies to be required to openly advertise internships and work experience opportunities, rather than organise them informally. The YouGov poll of 5,000 people has been released ahead of the second reading of Lord Holmes of Richmond’s Private Members’ Bill in the House of Lords on Friday 27 October, which proposes a ban on unpaid work experience or internships lasting more 4 weeks.

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Efforts to fully realise people’s economic potential in countries at all stages of development are falling short due to ineffective deployment of skills throughout the workforce, development of skills appropriate for the future of work and adequate promotion of ongoing learning for those already in employment. These failures to translate investment in education during the formative years into opportunities for higher-quality work during the working lifetime contributes to income inequality by blocking the two pathways to social inclusion, education and work, according to the World Economic Forum’s Human Capital Report 2017. The report measures 130 countries against four key areas of human capital development; Capacity, largely determined by past investment in formal education; Deployment, the application and accumulation of skills through work; Development, the formal education of the next generation workforce and continued upskilling and reskilling of existing workers; and Know-how, the breadth and depth of specialised skills-use at work. Countries’ performance is also measured across five distinct age groups or generations: 0-14 years; 15-24 years; 25-54 years; 55-64 years; and 65 years and over.

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