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UK PhD students’ call to action amid the cost-of-living crisis

Nature Human Behaviour volume 7, pages 1029–1030 (2023)Cite this article

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Financial insecurity is a pervasive source of stress for PhD students. Some may feel compelled to take on additional work to make ends meet, which can adversely affect both their academic performance and wellbeing. However, this is not a viable option for everyone. International students are restricted to limited work hours and PhD students with caring responsibilities or disabilities face additional challenges. Against this background, recent increase in inflation and the resulting cost-of-living crisis have exacerbated financial struggles of PhD students2. A recent survey from 14 Russell Group institutions on the effect of the cost-of living crisis reported that 45% of PhD students who are in paid employment work over 30 hours a week (in addition to their PhD) to meet basic living costs; 60% feel that their academic progress has suffered; and 77% have noticed a decline in their mental health. Although some universities (for example, Sheffield Hallam University) and doctoral training programmes have responded by offering one-off support payments, food vouchers and raising stipends to meet ‘Real Living Wage’ standards without funder intervention, many students have been faced with numerous obstacles when seeking aid and feel an overall lack of sufficient financial support.

PhD students, including those who are self-funded, are often signposted to means-tested hardship funds for short-term financial relief. If eligible, applications can be cumbersome and require sensitive information, which dissuades students from applying. Further, hardship funds alone are unlikely to address the systemic issues that have been exacerbated by the current crisis. For example, owing to stipends not being formally considered as income, many parents who are unable to work alongside their PhD do not meet the income requirements that are in place to access up to £2,000 of tax-free government childcare allowance. Instances such as these have left some PhD students with no option but to defer or withdraw from their programmes.

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Acknowledgements

E.R.F. and H.D.F are funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) (MRC Doctoral Training Programme - MR/N013867/1). The funder had no role in the decision to publish or the preparation of this manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Emma R. Francis, Hannah D. Franklin.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK

    Emma R. Francis

  2. Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK

    Hannah D. Franklin

  3. The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

    Hannah D. Franklin

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  1. Emma R. Francis
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  2. Hannah D. Franklin
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Correspondence to Emma R. Francis.

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Francis, E.R., Franklin, H.D. UK PhD students’ call to action amid the cost-of-living crisis. Nat Hum Behav 7, 1029–1030 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01614-9

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