I think some here are talking a load of rubbish!

I worked in a Government department paying benefits. Believe me, this country has more than its fair share of wasters who have no wish to work. Thank God we have people coming from Eastern European countries who are prepared to work, and work hard, often for very low wages. I hardly think they are depriving our own unemployed of jobs!
The young lady in question is a university graduate and volunteers in a museum, if what I have read is correct. Not exactly staying in bed and waiting for the benefits to roll in!

I've also had a lot of experience in working with volunteers and would ask why people do voluntary work? It can be to occupy themselves but very often it is to gain experience that can be put on a cv as well as being useful for getting a job in the very field in which they are volunteering! Nothing wrong with that, especially for young people who are often caught up on the roundabout – no job because they have no experience and no experience because they can't find a job!

On several occasions I took part in an exercise to encourage people to take on a few weeks work during the potato harvest. I very often found that young graduates and others of that ilk welcomed the chance to earn a few weeks' wages whereas those from a lower socio-economic group saw this kind of work as only being suitable for the "Tramps and Hawkers" referred to in a music thread above.

Good luck to the young lady who had the courage to take action against a system that is so short-sighted as to simply provide cannon fodder for an organisation that should, as several people have already pointed out, be paying at least the minimum wage.

I hope she is able to find a job soon that will make more use of her skills and possibly be of more value to the country!

Eddie