@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.
@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.
@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.
