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.

It's a great idea. It levels the playing field. Otherwise only those young people who already have contacts in that profession can get the experience they need to get a job there.

Your posts suggest you do. A child from a working class background who had never thought of joining the civil service because it's not something their parents know about might be encouraged to think about it by a teacher, for example, recommending they apply for this opportunity.

Well I wish it was for all kids that's all. Even the children of someone whose parent was a nurse when they were 14. (Not on the list).

This has been going on pre Labour getting into power. I work for the civil service. I think it’s a good thing, by the way. I’m not senior, it’s not my policy. I just think it’s a good thing.

I think some posters on here don’t realise how essential having internships is to the graduate job hunting process, both in terms of having them on the CV, and in terms of what proportion of permanent positions are offered as “returns” to interns. Being locked out of competitive internship programmes makes getting a permanent job much harder, if not impossible.

Yes but you said I thought people should "know their place". I dont think that. I do think people should be judged on merit and as individuals. Not lumped into groups.

A nurse might not earn as much as a plumber but they will have a degree and a wider education and might know more about what is 'out there' in terms of careers.

Ok. I don't know. I'm not a nurse. Nurses are notoriously sharp elbowed aren't they. When it comes to getting their kids on the career ladder. And they are paid a lot and are privileged in that they will have a lot of free time to help their children....

See. It's ridiculous

I agree and it seems like a fine idea.

Deleted due to weird quote thing going on.

Here's the list.

🙄

I give up. I'm glad the CS are doing this.

The notoriously underpaid traindriver is on the list.

Seems like a helpful thing to me.

I can't help imagining some sharper-elbowed, future-thinking middle class parents taking a "sabbatical" as their child reaches their 14th birthday, in order to take advantage though ;)

Jo

Evident that they want to show that money doesn’t always talk! And quite rightly so too.

I think this is good

A bit of unpaid work experience for a child who might not have the social connections to arrange it for themselves

Why would you resent that?

Do you not think it's a good idea to try and ensure the civil service doesn't just represent a very narrow slice of society?

Though I'm not sure how they expect kids from a working-class background who don't live or have family near Whitehall to be able to afford to actually take this up, which is a whole other issue with otherwise well-intentioned schemes designed to improve representation.

The schemes are all over the country
See articles about it

The point being that they rarely are, because kids from other backgrounds are less likely to have the confidence to apply, or sometimes even parents who can tell them how to put together a CV, prepare for an interview, dress appropriately for an office job, because they've never worked somewhere like that. Cultural capital is a thing.

Or they don't feel their face will fit because of their ethnicity, or because they aren't able to go out drinking after work, or they have a disability that employers may not be willing to accommodate when they could just hire another Joshie instead.

Ask anyone from a working-class background who's found themselves in a very middle-class industry - you learn how to mask very quickly.

Every child is a product of their upbringing.

A child who is a latchkey child from a loving single parent family who regularly looks after their siblings as mum has no other option, as she's on minimum wage, does not have the life experiences, clubs, opportunities etc that a child from a middle class home has.

They have to jump really high and strive harder just to level the playing field.

Surely you can see that OP.

What about kids who come from better off but dysfunctional families where the parents are crap, unsupportive twats but wealthy?

I don't just mean this specific scheme, I mean those for London-based industries that realistically would be off limits to someone in Gourock or Burnley.

Students with parents who are receptionists, electricians, plumbers, butchers or van drivers would be among those eligible for the programme.

Some of these parents are better paid that their child's teachers who wouldn't be eligible!

Don't know why anyone is surprised at yet another Labour manipulation based on pseudo social factors.

Well, I've said what I think so will leave it at that. Some very interesting posts despite most I think disagreeing with me. Food for thought and, despite being a "racist troll", with each child of mine possessing both a horse and a car apparently, do see the argument that some people have made as being valid. I think my view is also valid. Things are never black and white (in my view of course). That's the great thing about being able to have a discussion.

No, but their access to opportunities can be.

I’m 100% behind this. My kids come from a privileged background with 2 professional, well connected parents. My DD is currently sorting work experience for next year and via our contacts she has many offers. She is at a distinct advantage in life just because of what her parents do for a living.

Levelling the playing field for those less fortunate can only be a good thing. Especially when achieving a graduate job is so much harder than just attaining a good degree.