PhD in the UK is a different level of poverty compared with PhDs in any other “Western” country.
Can you imagine graduating at the top of your class and you living in London or near London on less than 20k pounds a year? You can double or triple that income in other phd programs.
The only advice if one really wants to do a PhD is to sample broadly across different countries and PhD programs and choose one that unlocks future options and also pays living wages.
> PhD in the UK is a different level of poverty compared with PhDs in any other “Western” country.
I disagree. I did my PhD in the UK, I did a post-doc in France and the PhD students there seem to have it just as bad, if not worse. From what I've heard from the US it's worse as well, you're expected to carry out teaching duties for pay, and your PI is more likely to string you along for 5+ years and stop you graduating since you're useful and cheap labour.
I lived in CA for two years starting a phd. Got 2k/mo, but fortunately on campus housing was only 500/mo. I actually saved 10k over those two years. Super lucky to have already owned a car and be on my parents car insurance tho. Would not recommend again.
Can you imagine graduating at the top of your class and you living in London or near London on less than 20k pounds a year? You can double or triple that income in other phd programs.
The only advice if one really wants to do a PhD is to sample broadly across different countries and PhD programs and choose one that unlocks future options and also pays living wages.