Postdocs count the cost of living in Ireland’s capital \ stacker news ~BooksAndArticles

I used to live in Dublin ~20 years ago, making the same money. Dublin was already a relatively expensive place, but I had a very comfortable life (no kids yet). Now it seems you can barely barely afford a decent life with that kind of money!

A female postdoctoral researcher who is midway through a two-year contract at University College Dublin (UCD) describes being treated “like cheap labour”. The 34-year-old, who requested anonymity, shares a flat with two other postdocs and says she can barely afford basic living costs on her €44,847 (US$48,916) salary.

A survey of postdocs at University College Dublin (UCD) has also revealed gender disparities, with 28% of male postdocs saying they are satisfied with their salaries, compared with just 16% of their female counterparts (see ‘Cheap labour’). “From a pay perspective it is shocking,” one woman says. “One hundred per cent of my take-home pay goes on childcare. My husband pays all the other bills.”

I cannot help myself thinking that these women are making a bad deal. They're probably hoping to get some experience in academia, and then move to the private sector to make big $s... Looking at the sacrifices they have to make, I'm not sure it's really worth it...

But what do I know?

205 sats \ 1 reply \ @denlillaapan 14 Nov

probably not worth it, no.

But people want prestige and the old-school credentials that come with Nice Higher Ed Diploma-Look-At-Me-So-Smart.

It's pretty ridic. Get tha fuck out, seriously.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @398ja OP 14 Nov

Or, it seems that, knowing they have a certain potential, they will do everything not to later regret not having tried hard enough. But too often, this is at the expense of other aspects of their life. You can't have it all (Opportunity costs) !

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @000w2 14 Nov

That's like 0.5 bitcoin/year. Back when I was a postdoc, pay way around 150 bitcoin/year. What is going on with these salaries?