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Burning Down · 01-14-2014, 05:16 PM

I've never worked for free, but then again I've never accepted an unpaid internship or co-op. There are certainly benefits to working for free, especially for the employer. But I think they are outweighed by the disadvantages.

Since unpaid employment is becoming more and more common now, especially in Canada and the US among people my age (20's), I can't imagine what the economy is going to look like in the future when we have even more unpaid workers out there in 5 or even 10 years. If people don't have money to spend, the economy goes down. Then there is the thing about retirement - will people who have worked for years for free or for minimum wage have enough of a pension to live on without having to rely on government assistance? People should start putting money into their retirement savings plans or 401(k) as soon as they get out of university or get a steady paying job, so that there is enough for them when they retire. I know that's thinking like 40 or 50 years from now, though.

I think with the current trend of unpaid internships we are going to see a lot more people living under the poverty line and possibly not paying taxes in the future.

01-14-2014, 05:16 PM	#14047 (permalink)
Burning Down The Music Guru. Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Beyond the Wall Posts: 4,858	I've never worked for free, but then again I've never accepted an unpaid internship or co-op. There are certainly benefits to working for free, especially for the employer. But I think they are outweighed by the disadvantages. Since unpaid employment is becoming more and more common now, especially in Canada and the US among people my age (20's), I can't imagine what the economy is going to look like in the future when we have even more unpaid workers out there in 5 or even 10 years. If people don't have money to spend, the economy goes down. Then there is the thing about retirement - will people who have worked for years for free or for minimum wage have enough of a pension to live on without having to rely on government assistance? People should start putting money into their retirement savings plans or 401(k) as soon as they get out of university or get a steady paying job, so that there is enough for them when they retire. I know that's thinking like 40 or 50 years from now, though. I think with the current trend of unpaid internships we are going to see a lot more people living under the poverty line and possibly not paying taxes in the future.