<p>Wake up kid N, PG. I had to get my own coffee. If that is his/her work ethic, we need to have a little conversation ;)</p>
<p>Actually, my version of Kid N wanted to live in London for the summer, while earning nothing, and having PG and spouse cover the cost. Doing the holiday shopping for PG <em>and</em> getting jym626’s coffee seems like the least Kid N could do in return!</p>
<p>It was mentioned upthread that a little bit of subsidizing led to a huge payoff. However, in this job market, I don’t think we can subsidize and expect such a payoff. We can subsidize summer internships, but there is a good chance it won’t lead to a job. We subsidize internships to give the kids a fighting chance. For S, we fully subsidized one, and partly subsidized another (really a graduation gift), but he had to work, claw, and have unflagging persistence to procure a recent career job. Of course, some luck was surely involved. For D, her internships were to explore possible career interests and work for the greater good. They certainly won’t lead to jobs, but they were paid beyond minimum wage (I paid for food leaving money in her pocket for the school year), and I certainly think part of her educational experience (maybe I should call them summer jobs?). The kids had different needs and required a different amount of subsidy. But, if I expected a payoff that led to a successful launch, I may be disappointed.</p>
<p>If, in my view, internships lead to kids having a fighting chance, what chance do lower income kids have in this job market?</p>
<p>I’m with Thumper (#156): fair is not always equal. And we’ve applied this not only to internships and summer jobs but also to early career moves. As I’ve posted elsewhere, careers are often segmented these days, with (hopefully brief) interruptions between jobs but hopefully a progression. (reference is to this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1576590-liberal-arts-degree-better-than-specific-major-article.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1576590-liberal-arts-degree-better-than-specific-major-article.html</a>)</p>
<p>This means job changes, relocations, periods with no income, medical/healthcare needs, and perhaps retraining or advanced degrees.</p>
<p>We have subsidized one of our children during these changes and interruptions. We haven’t needed to subsidize the other one, even though he has made several job shifts. We remember them both equally at birthdays, holidays, etc. One is just more needy at this stage, so we provide. And we do see the type of career progression that I mentioned on the post that I link to. Both kids are highly creative, hard workers, but random events create different financial needs and rewards.</p>
<p>So as long as we are able to do so, we will support our kids.</p>
<p>Sure, I agree that “fair is not always equal.” I would certainly subsidize a valuable internship, if a subsidy was needed, without worrying about whether I was giving equal money to another child.</p>
<p>But I don’t think that resolves the question that PG is raising. As I understand it, PG’s question is, “Do you subsidize a student who doesn’t need the subsidy to take the internship, so the student can bank the money instead?”</p>
<p>Yes. Thank you. This isn’t about “subsidy needed to take the internship.”</p>
<p>I would (and have) considered this type of internship part of the general college education process and as such it falls into the tuition category. So, yes, I’d subsidize. Of course it has be been an appropriate internship with a good chance of improving employment options in the future. I would not subsidize a ‘summer camp’ experience.</p>
<p>PizzaGirl, I think that based on what you’ve written about this child-- that he/she is responsible-- about what I’ve seen from your posts-- that you are financially well-off and choose to be generous with your children and enjoy being generous with your children-- and the purpose of the savings-- grad school-- you are on solid ground here. We make all sorts of decisions about how to support almost-launched offspring and they’re not always clear-cut. For example, when one of my kids was in college, I paid the substantial annual tax caused by scholarships-- but let kiddo pocket and save their own earnings which were eventually used to travel through Europe. I valued the travel, and I value internships and grad school.</p>