Selling artwork was one way of making extra money that PhD students reported in the poll.Credit: Klaus Vedfelt/Getty
A cost-of-living crisis is compelling some PhD researchers to find creative ways to make ends meet, according to a reader poll conducted by Nature. Of the 1,200 or so scientists who responded, 46% said they have or had a second income during their PhDs.
Sixty-eight per cent of respondents to the poll — posted in January to the Nature website, on social media, and in the Nature Briefing e-mail newsletter — answered that they were worried about the current economic situation in their region, with 59% saying this worry would make them more likely to consider pursuing a side hustle (see ‘PhD students under pressure’).
“The quality of life [provided by] my current stipend (same amount as for 10 years ago) definitely has not been maintained with the rising cost of living. Within a few years I think most people would struggle and need to begin a side hustle or second job,” wrote one respondent to Nature’s poll.
“My stipend was far below the cost of living in my area, which in turn forced me to pick up a part-time job on the side to make ends meet,” wrote another.
Ian Wereley, executive director of the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies in Ottawa, says that PhD students’ financial situation is dependent on their location, but can be dire for those living in expensive cities. “In Canada, PhD stipends on average are just at or sometimes below the poverty line,” he says.
The results chime with a survey from the US market-research firm Morning Consult which showed that financial optimism among university students in the United States has fallen to its lowest level since the company began tracking this in 2018. And in the United Kingdom, more than half of research organizations and training-grant holders think that current PhD stipends do not meet researchers’ living costs, according to a report published in 2025 for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the country’s largest funder of PhDs.
Cost of living
Nature asked readers about their experiences with side hustles, why they felt the need to earn money on the side and what kinds of job they were doing. The greatest number of answers (49%) came from people in Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2012. Forty per cent of respondents were ‘millennials’, born between 1981 and 1996, with the remaining 11% being born between 1946 and 1980.
Responses came from 57 countries, with most based in Europe (41%) or North America (38%). Although respondents in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal and Canada reported that their stipends were insufficient to cover their cost of living, there were regional differences.
Are these the happiest PhD students in the world?
Other PhD students, notably in the Nordic region, say their stipends are sufficient. “As I did my PhD in Sweden, I received a full salary and benefits. As such, the notion of requiring a side hustle never emerged,” said one anonymous respondent.
Other respondents say they are not permitted to earn extra incomes owing to contractual agreements with their universities or stipulations in their student or work visas.
