PhD scholars / researchers are doing real work (Score 1)

In some countries, specifically New Zealand, people doing research during their PhD make up more the 50% of the total research workforce of the country. That includes public and private researchers across all sectors. The total number of researchers has been roughly the same for well over a decade. This indicates that there are precious few job openings for those with newly minted PhDs. It looks like the bulk of the research is being done by people (many of whom are immigrants) paid less than minimum wage, in temporary positions, without any protection under employment law, and almost zero chance of getting a permanent job in their field of research after they graduate. In terms of circumstances, PhD researchers have an awful lot in common with migrant fruit pickers. It is shameful. See this for the numbers https://zenodo.org/record/6342486

Neither PhD researchers, nor migrant fruit pickers, nor anyone should be exploited this way. That is why a post about making ends meet through additional means (aka asking the researcher to subsidize the research system itself) should piss people off. This exploitation is the root cause of graduate researcher strikes wherever they occur. The capitalist higher education system is only doing what capitalist systems do everywhere. Solidarity, mates. Solidarity.