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.

I mean it’s just an internship…. I very much doubt at 14 a short term internship will impact job chances that much!! I think the advantage of parents in a higher socio economic bracket far outweigh a short internship at the civil service!!

Been the same for years. When i was at uni (15 ish years ago) only those with disabilities could apply for the CS internships. I went to state school and from a very normal background but couldn’t apply, my wealthy friend who went to boarding school and had very wealthy parents but had dyslexia (and she’s just one out of several I know) did it and had a great time. She doesn’t work at all - never need to since leaving uni! But I now work in the CS…

I think these schemes are a great idea.

My DS benefitted hugely from two internships. One two week summer internship at a top 5 accountancy firm when he was 16 easily arranged by my brother in law who is a partner there and another one he did at 18 after A levels which was arranged by the CEO of a company which happens to be a major client of my DH and is in the industry my DS was keen to work in.

My DS now has a job in that field which is usually only open to graduates and it was the feedback from the 6 week paid internship that impressed recruiters and his new employers enough to give him a chance.

DS has really benefitted from his privilege and this is very typical with the families we socialise with. It's not fair that some kids don't have access to these schemes and any attempt to level the playing field is good in my opinion.

The company DS works for now offers 10 summer internship positions a year. 1500 second year uni students applied for those 10 positions this year. It's so competitive it's no wonder some parents pull a few strings and get these things arranged through friends, family and business clients.

Lol! I wouldn't say that plumbers and electricians are jobs indicative of hardship. My cousin earned £150k last year as a spark.

Thank you for writing this. Honestly, I wish more people said this out loud.

At 14 the adult in my family was unemployed.

In all likelihood when my children are 14 they will have two degree educated parents in professional jobs.

I cannot convey how privileged they will be compared to me at that age. Not financially or in terms of connections. But terms of the help and support me and their Dad will be able to provide them with their further education/career choices. The aspirational element can also not be underestimated. I'm not saying kids without educated parents aren't aspirational but it is a hell of a lot easier if you actually see what can be achieved.

And yet for decades children have been offered opportunities based on what their parents do for a job and their social connections just that it benefited the rich,

now the poor kids are benefiting people are kicking off. Its like people don’t want poor children to do well and want to keep them in their place.

1.Do these kids actually WANT to work at Whitehall ….
Or

2.will it still be a friends and family situation with existing civil servants being considered on par with van driver.

Op this is the best example I’ve seen on this thread as to why child 3 will never have a level playing field if those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds aren’t given some extra support that child 1 & 2 will have just by existing

I think it’s brilliant.

YABU for reading the Telegraph AND believing they present the facts.

Imagine wanting to give kids a short bit of experience they wouldn't otherwise have access to, from exactly the backgrounds that are underrepresented in government, to the detriment of the country. Imagine!

Bourdieu is coming for OP and he's pissed

My mum worked 3 jobs when I was 14 and was never home. Dad worked 2.

My parents never came to parents evening and they never went to university.

I was a latchkey kid who cooked burger and chips for myself most nights before going out woth friends.

I attended the same failing school as my parents, which was failing when they went to it decades earlier.

I didn't revise for my GCSEs because noone cared what marks i got because i didn't need good grades to get a job at the same shop as my mum and dad when i finished school.

It took me 5 years to leave and try Receptionist work and work up into a managerial role.

My expectations for my children are so much higher. I am so much more engaged in their childhoods and development.

So please, tell me more about how how nice middle class kids like mine are being excluded and missing vital opportunities in favour of working class kids who are growing up in often very deprived areas and with parents who have never broken the cycle.

Tell me more about how you want your country's policies designed by adults who genuinely have no idea that many kids still grow up like that.

A book called Blunders of our Governments explores exactly why so many multi-billion pound policies fail and a lot of them have overlapping features, such as being designed by people who assume that people will just pay a bill, because they live in a world where that's just what you do (and fail to consider that many many won't because they can't afford to and cost recovery or criminal prosecution is disproportionate/unfeasible to implement at scale for those who fail to pay).

This is the antithesis of a level playing field.

I work with civil servants and have been surprised by how different their lives and upbringings were to mine, and I'm not from an "overly" working class family. The majority of people I work with have masters degrees and seem to have at least one rental property, or families with properties overseas. They pretty much all went to gramar or independent schools.

Two recently lost parents and I was morbidly fascinated by the complications they had with splitting up estates etc. My parents still pay a mortgage on a very small semi in the Welsh valleys and no assets!

Diversifying is great but I do think there probably needs to be support for people joining from outside the "elite". I've felt quite lost in many conversations over the years.

It's just about giving an opportunity to those that probably don't have the connections that often

I don't know if my kids would be eligible as DH gets irritated when referred to as a plumber 😅 but a similar trade. My job would tick the box. I don't think my DC would be the target demographic, but there's no perfect tool without making the administration costs huge.

My parents were both civil servants, with my dad being one for his entire career. He retired early with a very nice pension. They were both from working class families but the CS seemed like it was more accessible back then.

When I cleared out my late mum's stuff, I found her job offer letter from the Civil Service from about 1968. As she was under 21 and moving from Scotland to London, she was given an allowance to travel back to Scotland to visit her parents for a certain amount of visits per year, as well as relocation costs. I guess this would anger some 🤷

How anyone can be churlish enough to resent any small levelling of the playing field is beyond me

policy and those who make decisions that affect every single person in society should reflect that society

you only have to see the disparity of the yr 10s work experience fortnight to realise how networks and exposure to a variety of career options create opportunity and ambition.

Yeah it's definitely better to keep these things for the privileged few who already know this type of career is an option and come from families who already dominate it.

One local private school accidentally circulated a list of parental details including profession a few years ago (pre-GDPR but terrible PR). It showed a hugely mixed parent base including loads of trades.

but that's the whole point of the scheme? to provide pre-employment training opportunities for young people who can't access them through private tutoring, family connections etc., so that when it comes time to apply for the real job the pool of competent candidates is increased = healthy competition = competent civil servants

If you start cutting off large groups of kids for prospective employment and from work experience just because of what their parents did when you were 14

That is quite literally what happens to people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Participants who perform well will be fast-tracked to the final stages of the Fast Stream selection process if they decide to apply for a job after graduation

This is the bit thats more problematic for me.

Also, plumbers and electricians..... Working class maybe, but not socially or financially deprived. Not round here anyway.

Calm down op. I am sure you and other professionals can get your talented child work experience in your company or your friend's with no problem .

Sounds good to me.

I fully support this. My son started applying for apprenticeships last year ready for finishing A levels this summer & I noted most companies wanted to know if he had free school meals (to show a low socio-economic background I guess). I was irritated by this initially then I reflected on this & his privilege, we live in a 'nice area', he's had a private tutor at times, he has a car so can travel for work, he has interested & supportive parents, we bought him new shoes, shirt, tie etc for interviews & prepped him as much as we could. He has everything I didn't (Council estate, gangs, parents with addiction, lot's of siblings, no money, no transport, no nice clothes etc). My son is MY priority BUT I absolutely want a world where that little girl living in poverty with little opportunity to get out of it has a chance & sees some hope in scheme's like this because believe me that little girl is 100 steps behind most children & has to fight & work 10 x harder to get anywhere.

They could always apply for one of the other SIXTEEN schemes?