Enforce Fair Pay for Work: Limit Use of Unpaid Internships by For-Profit Companies

Economy woes have hit young people particularly hard: 15% of 16- to 24-year-olds (not including those in school full-time) have no employment. Yet large companies are reaping the benefits of free labor from unpaid interns. Universities and sometimes even high schools push students to work for free.
Internships are supposed to benefit the student more than the employer, but several high-profile lawsuits have recently revealed that companies abuse the concept of internships to simply wring as much work out of young men and women while avoiding paying a minimum wage. The Fair Labor Standards Act exists; it must be enforced consistently by the federal government to remove the incentive for cheating the system and keeping our youth employment rate sky-high.