In the United States, unpaid internships are rampant.
Not just the US. In Canada, Bell Communications was abusing unpaid internships until it turned into a PR disaster for them. I doubt Bell is alone in the matter.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/08/12/bell_canada_cancels_massive_unpaidinternship_program.htmlBell promoted the program as an opportunity to gain valuable experience for management careers, but the truth is that the interns were exploited as menial labor doing things like customer surveys and data entry. Putting up with this bullshit for just a chance to get a toe in that door. This is how desperate people have become.
And the kicker is that studies have found that people who do unpaid internships don't actually have an edge in getting paid employment in the future anyway.
-k