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"We believe in the power of the internship. It\u2019s a learning experience, a networking opportunity, and a time to figure out if the career of your dreams is really the right choice for you. Paid internships are ideal, but up until recently, finding one outside of finance, law, or major city newspapers has been next to impossible. The vast majority of these opportunities are unpaid, and most eager students or recent graduates know what they\u2019re getting themselves into, and gladly accept these positions for the promised payoff in the end. That doesn&amp;#39;t make it right, however, and results in coveted internships being filled by predominantly white, upper middle-class students whose parents can afford help them out. That&amp;#39;s why the news that Bernie Sanders is the only candidate in the 2016 presidential election to pay his interns, according to The Washington Post, comes as no surprise. After all, his message, and the reason he has captured the hearts of so many young people, is because he preaches fairness \u2014 and what&amp;#39;s more fair than getting paid for the work that you do? Not much.\n\nAccording to the New York Times, &amp;quot;79% of employers surveyed said that unpaid internships have a positive impact when they evaluate graduates for hire.\u201D While that sounds nice on paper, the reality of an unpaid internship is that it\u2019s expensive and unrealistic for many. Between food, transportation, and business-casual closet updates, internships can cost thousands of dollars. This means that unpaid roles are largely out of reach of many students, and unfairly impact their chances of employment after school.\n\nChristie Thompson at ProPublica says that thousands of people are barred from the arts every year \u201Cbecause they can&amp;#39;t afford to take unpaid internships on their climb to a career.\u201D According to the Pew Center, \u201CThe wealth of white households was 13 times the median wealth of black households in 2013,\u201D which means that students of color tend to be at a significant disadvantage when it comes to being able to take internships that don&amp;#39;t offer a salary. This is a serious problem. Even in internship-land, there\u2019s a classic case of \u201Cthe rich get richer, the poor get poorer.\u201D \n\nThe \u201Copportunity gap\u201D, as Jeb Bush calls it, is ironically very pronounced in the political sphere, too. Most of the presidential candidates pay their interns a grand total of $0 per hour \u2014 even Donald Trump, who flouts his personal wealth and independently funded campaign every chance that he gets. And even internships in Congress and the White House are largely unpaid. That&amp;#39;s why Sanders&amp;#39;s decision to pay the young people who work tirelessly for him, and would probably be there for free anyway, means something: he&amp;#39;s put his money where his mouth is when it comes to tackling issues around the wealth gap.\n\nAs The Post&amp;#39;s Christina Greer and Alexis Grenell accurately point out, \u201Cdemocracy is supposed to be about inclusion,\u201D so it seems odd for presidential candidates to indirectly prevent certain students from gaining indispensable experience and furthering their careers. \n\nRelated:  Watch Out Hillary: Bernie Sanders Is Winning the Youth Vote\n\nCheck out Teen Vogue\u2019s February issue cover star, Zo\u00EB Kravitz.\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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