I would do a PhD if they paid me enough. I don't mind if I cannot find a job that pays well with a PhD (I actually don't need a PhD for that); I would do the PhD because I like doing research. What would bother me is to spent ~4-5 years without a decent income. The scholarships here in western europe are just too low, and I cannot justify not working for private companies in favor or pursuing a PhD during ~4-5 years
Prior to the new administration I would have pointed out that US CS and engineering Ph.D.s are generally paid with a stipend that's "just enough to live on".
I disagree a little with their cost of living calculations - they're off in both directions for areas I know reasonably well. Most Ph.D. students can live for something under the MIT living wage calculations if they choose -- transportation costs are overstated for most places (e.g., CMU students get a free regional bus pass; MIT students get subsidized transit passes, etc.). Often the medical costs are subsidized as well -- we cover the full cost of (individual) health insurance for Ph.D. students.
You're not going to be banking much, but in CS, it's OK at many institutions, particularly when you factor in summer internship income.
Grad school is a money loser in CS for people from the US. There's no argument. But I did end up having my net worth increase over the course of it, and it was a fantastic experience. In Boston, even - a pretty HCOL area. And in the end, being "rich but less rich than my FAANG friends" isn't the worst outcome. :)
The MIT "living wage" figures are, to put it lightly, utterly deranged; more a statement of the purveyors's ideal of a first-world standard of living than a reflection of reality. If they are to be believed, then evidently grad students—or really like, half the population??—must not be alive.
As maligned as the poverty lines are—and they do have plenty of shortcomings—they are still a far closer approximation of "the true cost of living in a modern economy" than this drivel.
You may not have understood the concept of a living wage. For a start, a living wage is expected to support saving for retirement and future expenses like a new car, or eventually buying a house. "People can live on $100/week for six weeks!!!" is not a relevant counter point to "$100/week is not a living wage."
I love doing research. I published a minor unimportant paper in undergrad and had a blast doing it.
Then at graduation I was offered a well paid job in the industry. Decided to pursue it as opposed to spending 5-6 more years in academia looking for grants.
Would love to go back and get a PhD, but the economics just don't make sense for me. For now, it's a retirement plan.
