They have very very very high wages already for PhD students though?
True, their rent costs are also very very very high but based on the current exchange rates the $500 the tag line example person has left over, after rent each month, is comparable to the amount left after rent, food, etc when doing a PhD in the UK 6 years ago in a not London location.
It seems that the PhD wages are very high already to compensate for the very high rent costs.
If the anecdotal evidence given by people in the comments here, concerning TAing and moonlighting at other nearby research institutes (for ~$10K !) are both true and common then what is the problem?
During my PhD I received a £1380/month tax-free stipend from EPSRC, and rented a single room in a shared house for £300/month. So after rent, I had £1080 - about $1400 - left over to live on.
To me, $500/month sounds like very little. I wasn't trying to pay for a child either!
True, their rent costs are also very very very high but based on the current exchange rates the $500 the tag line example person has left over, after rent each month, is comparable to the amount left after rent, food, etc when doing a PhD in the UK 6 years ago in a not London location.
It seems that the PhD wages are very high already to compensate for the very high rent costs.
If the anecdotal evidence given by people in the comments here, concerning TAing and moonlighting at other nearby research institutes (for ~$10K !) are both true and common then what is the problem?