@xtaldave @danielcolquitt Does that mean you don't get a retirement for those years?
I don't know what's the price of life in the UK, but I heard it's quite expensive, I'm sure you can survive with these 1400£ a month, but probably not afford a good life.
@danielcolquitt @xtaldave I see, it's good to hear things are improving over there. Don't get me wrong, I heard much worse things: I'm now in Spain and here many PhD students don't get any money at all.
I'd never accept such conditions though: assuming a person doing a PhD is supposedly smart they can easily find a better paying job.
I've been lucky as I got employed to do a PhD, thus I get both the best of an employee and of a student.
@rastinza @xtaldave in financial terms, a £17.7k stipend is roughly equivalent to a salary of £20.1k. The median salary in the UK is about £33k. So the stipend is not great, but not terrible either, particularly when you consider that the UK median salary for 18-21 year olds (around the age when most “typical” students start their PhD) is about £19k.
@danielcolquitt @xtaldave People start a PhD at 21 in the UK? That's impressive!
I started my first year of bachelor at 19, and that's the normal age in Italy...
@rastinza @xtaldave well, the typical* age to start a PhD is 22 (but I don’t have the salar data for 22 year olds to hand 😜):
BSc: 18-21 ➡️ MSc: 21-22 ➡️ PhD: 22-25
OR
Integrated masters: 18-22 ➡️ PhD: 22-25
Some students do a PhD immediately after a BSc, but it’s rare.
—
* Typical as much as any PhD student is typical.
@rastinza @xtaldave indeed — the stipend is not a salary and therefore does not contribute to pensions etc. It also does not count as income for credit, mortgages, etc. PhD student are students rather than employees and therefore do not have the same rights (annual/parental leave etc.) although things have been improving in this regard recently. However, these arrangements are less than ideal and can be a barrier to entry — particularly for those from less “traditional” backgrounds.