Civil Service internship. Only children of the "working class"

[Quirkswork]

If your child is coming up for 14 and interested in a career in the Civil Service and you have a job in a profession or that means you pay a lot of tax, I suggest you down tools now.

As reported in the Telegraph,

Civil Service internships will only be offered to students from lower income families in a bid to make Whitehall more working class, ministers have announced.

Only young people from “lower socio-economic backgrounds” will be able to apply to Whitehall’s internship programme, the Cabinet Office has said.

A student will be judged eligible depending on what jobs their parents did when they were 14. Students with parents who are receptionists, electricians, plumbers, butchers or van drivers would be among those eligible for the programme.

And here we have it. The OP's stance on life.

This is a good change. Previously the scheme was open to ethnic minority and working class candidates. Which inevitably meant most of the places were snapped up by black and Asian kids at top private schools.

A British Indian boy who went to Eton or a black British girl who went to St Paul’s Girls’ School face next to no real barriers to entry into a professional career.

A white working class boy from Hartlepool or a British Pakistani girl from a deprived part of Birmingham absolutely do face barriers.

So many assumptions made there it is laughable

No. I think disabled people need particular care in society.

You can't judge every child's advantages or disadvantages. You might have a child of a receptionist (on the list) who has had a happy loving home life with parents who give a shit. And you might have the child of an accountant from a violent home. Yet that latter child isn't allowed to hope to get on an internship scheme. It seems very arbitrary.

YABU

I deal with Whitehall a lot as we provide financial and technical services for them. They are overwhelmingly white, middle aged, middle class men. They need to diversify.

I was just wondering what in your background could have caused you to arrive at such a disgusting views about society.

I was just commenting on the person who seem to think they were describing my.life involving a horse/child!! How else should I have responded other than in a ridiculous way??

The civil service has actually done incredibly well in diversifying on an ethnic basis. England is 80% white, and the civil service is 80% white.

Why disgusting? To want every child to be treated as an individual? What's wrong with that?

Compare 3 children

Child A has a dentist father and a SAHM mother. Lives in a large 5 bedroom house in a village. Goes to private school. Does a whole host of extra curricular activities. Absolutley expected to go to uni and is given tutors and any other help needed to get them there. Uncles friend has a large company and offers a swanky exec level work experience.

Child B has parents who work as project managers. Lives in a standard 3 bed house in a decent town. Goes to the local leafy comp which is good. Does a couple of extra curriculars. Uni is a choice offered and encourage by the school and the parents. Mums friend works for the government and alerts the child about a work experience opportunity

Child C has parents who are a factory worker and a cleaner. Same goes for whole generations of thier family. Live in a 2 bed terrace in a not so nice part of a city. The local school is rife with gangs, knives and drugs are an everyday occurance. Shares a bed room with 3 siblings so nowhere quiet to study. Has to come home from school to look after younger siblings. Uni is not even something that is considered an option - school are just trying to get people to attend lessons for GCSEs and not drop out. Parents don't know anything about uni and are just trying to feed their kids. knows no-one who could offer work experience.

Are you telling me that you think that child C has anything like the same start and opportunities in life as the other children? Absolutely they should have some extra help to see what is out there and open up their world to all the opportunities they don't even know exist.
Shame on you for being so elitist. My children would not qualify either but I can see that other children should benefit over mine - DH and I are able to help them research options, and enable any choices they might like to make. DD just did work experience at my company.(and only allowed because she was my child). Lots of her friends were unable to find anything. We are not rich - we have an ex-council house, but we are privileged.

Here’s a few occupations as categorised by the bbc

I love that posters here seem to think parents in these top two sets have so many connections
They don’t
Most kids just apply for jobs like everyone else

Nevertheless.
Here’s the list indicating the sort of jobs being distinguished as working class.

The last few meetings I have attended have been with middle-aged, middle class men. These are quite high in their organisations - this is where they need diversity.

The hiring and firing people need to meet people from working class backgrounds and I think this is a great initiative

Yes...that's me....

Given you know that the UK has an unrepresentative civil service, what would you do to progress change?

Or do you want to retain the status quo?

The plural of anecdote isn’t data. The few civil servants you happen to meet with being white isn’t indicative of a diversity failure - in a country and organisation that is 80% white, lots of white people is to be expected.

Every post of yours suggests you think people with privilege should keep it and have more handed to them while the less fortunate in terms of cultural capital, not necessarily money, should know their place.

I will never agree with you.

I could not agree with you more.

I am not really talking about ethnicity - the higher ups in these departments in Whitehall are middle class men. I deal with them on a day to day basis and have visited their offices numerous times. I also used to be be a civil servant.

Working class people need to be ‘seen’ by these people. These internships will help

A student will be judged eligible depending on what jobs their parents did when they were 14

My kids should be fine, I didn't have a job when I was 14.

No. I do think it needs changing. There's been a lot of accusations on this thread that don't represent what I think at all.

My children wouldn't qualify and would have no interest in the civil service anyway, so I'm not arguing for my own benefit. I'm not denying that I am privileged compared to many and I am thankful. I support the aim of poor working class getting a leg up. White working class boys are at the bottom of the rung and I see that, living where I do.

I however don't think this should be at the expense of any other child. That's all. Id just like a decent civil service based on employing the best person for the job. Surely this is a debate that can be had without me being called..what was it...a "racist troll".

I went to a private secondary school, a lot of my peers got their first jobs through contacts of their parents (lawyers, doctors etc), which then of course provides a huge stepping stone. My dad was a cab driver but my mum's an accountant, and she got me an office junior job when I was 15. The opportunities are endless.

I work in civil service now, and most of my colleagues do not come from a working class background. I am a lucky one that I make up that 59%.

I don't think that though?

It’s basically work experience and I support it to break down the perception that CS senior roles are all filled by middle / upper class. My dad was a fisherman and I’ve done well in my CS career and so have many of my peers from working class backgrounds

a decent civil service based on employing the best person for the job
and that’s still what’s going to happen, it doesn’t guarantee them a job, it’s showing them a look in and successful internship students are still going to have to go through the final stages of interviews for the fast track, it guarantees them nothing.