Summary of major findings

• We present the results from the largest ever survey of the Stanford Latinx postdocs, sampling more than 40% of the whole Latinx postdoc community.

• The median postdoc had a monthly salary of $1,701-$2,500 prior to Stanford, and they spent a median of $3,000-$4,000 in their first month for housing and around $2,000 in moving costs other than housing when moving to Stanford.

• Latinx postdocs are a diverse population. When compared with non-Latinx postdocs, we see that Latinx postdocs move to Stanford from a greater number of distinct regions, and had more variable salaries prior to Stanford.

• When compared with the most recent SURPAS benefits survey (conducted in December 2021-January 2022), we detected increases in expenses related to housing, car transportation, and food. These increases track with known global, national, and regional trends and are likely driven by inflation, and have outpaced minimum salary increases.

• Latinx postdocs are disproportionately affected in housing costs, living distance to campus, car transportation costs, financial concerns, and retirement savings. In aggregate, these differences point to a troubling trend.

• Overall, postdocs are dissatisfied with their financial situation, with majorities indicating that their salary doesn’t cover their living expenses, and that this has negative impacts in multiple aspects of their lives. We found other factors to have much weaker, if any, effects.

• In their responses to an open ended question, postdoc comments indicated overwhelming frustration and negative emotions. Many postdocs highlighted financial struggles, and the negative consequences on their mental and physical health.

Acknowledgements

• We thank the 212 anonymous Stanford postdocs who took the survey, in particular we are grateful for the 55 anonymous Latinx postdocs who responded.

• The survey questionnaire was designed by Julieta Álvarez Manjarrez with input from the SLPA board members Clare Abreu, Sur Herrera Paredes, Renato S. Navarro, Fátima Pardo Ávila, Maria-Belen Perez-Ramirez, and Vanessa Sanchez.

• We also thank the SURPAS leadership team, and the SURPAS director of communications Geetha Saarunya Clarke for their help in disseminating the survey.

• This survey report and analysis was prepared by Clare Abreu, Sur Herrera Paredes, and Fátima Pardo Ávila, with input from Stepfanie Aguillon and Julieta Álvarez Manjarrez.

The largest ever survey of the Stanford Latinx postdocs

• A total of 212 Stanford postdocs answered the survey, with 55/212 (25.9%) self-identifying as “Latinx”.

• The 2021 IDEAL Survey, which is the largest survey of the overall Stanford postdoc population, reported that 47 /837 (5.6%) of postdoc respondents self-identified with the related label “Hispanic/Latino”.

• In the more recent SURPAS benefits survey (December 2021 to January 2022) 316 postdoc respondents but no ethnic/racial demographics were reported.

• To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest survey ever reported where the responses of the Latinx postdocs can be studied as a group. If the proportion of Hispanic/Latino postdocs from the IDEAL survey is accurate, then this survey sampled 41% of the Latinx postdoc population.

Most Stanford postdocs started within the last 3 years

• The majority of the survey respondents (79.6%) started their postdoc in the last three calendar years (i.e. since 2020).

• The number above is almost identical to the 78.1% postdocs in the first 3 years of their appointment from the latest SURPAS survey (SURPAS 2021/22 benefits survey).

• We observe a lower than expected number of postdocs who started in the year 2020, likely related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• There is little difference between Latinx and non-Latinx postdocs on this characteristic.

The median postdoc spends $3,000-$4,000 USD in their first month for moving expenses

• The median postdoc spends $3001-$4000 in their first month rent and deposit when moving to Stanford. The median is the same for Latinx and non-Latinx postdocs, but Latinx postdocs are more likely to be in the top two spending brackets.

• For moving expenses other than housing the median Latinx postdoc spends $2501-$3000, versus the median non-Latinx postdoc who spends $2001-$2500. However, Latinx postdocs are also more likely to spend less than $1,500 in this categeory.

Latinx postdocs disproportionatelly move from Latin America or California, USA

• At least one Latinx postdoc was living in each of the regions surveyed prior to moving to Stanford.

• In contrast no non-Latinx postdoc moved from Latin America.

Rent + utilities increase when postdocs move to Stanford

• The median cost of rent + utilities for Latinx postdocs incresases from $1001-$2000 before Stanford, to $2500-$3000 at Stanford. This represents at least a 25% increase.

• The median cost of rent + utilities for non-Latinx postdocs incresases from $501-$1000 before Stanford, to $2001-$2500 at Stanford. This represents at least a 100% increase.

• Overall, when moving to Stanford, the cost of rent + utilities decreased for 1/212 postdoc (0.5%); it remained in overlapping ranges for 36/212 postdocs (17%, with 19/36 of these in the top ranges), and it increased for 175/212 postdocs (82.5%).

• Note: the surveyed ranges for the rent + utilities cost differ between the Before Stanford and At Stanford periods. The widths of the bars in the figure reflect the ranges surveyed. The top ranges surveyed were the open intervals “more than $2,000” and “more than $3,000” respectively.

Prior to Stanford, Latinx postdocs were more likely to have salaries in the most extreme brackets

• The median postdoc had a monthly salary of $1701-$2500 prior to Stanford regardless of whether they identify as Latinx.

• 18.2% of Latinx postdocs had a monthly salary of $1,000 USD or less prior to Stanford, compared to 5.7% of non-Latinx postdocs.

• 27.3% of Latinx postdocs had a monthly salary of more than $3,000 USD prior to Stanford, compared to 17.8% of non-Latinx postdocs.

Latinx postdocs are more likely to request financial help to move to Stanford

• 29.8% of Latinx postdocs requested financial help to move to Stanford, versus 15.1% of non-Latinx postdocs.

• 60.6% of those who requested financial help did so from “Family & Friends”.

Postdocs moving from outside of the USA are more likely to request a loan to move

• 11.3% of postdocs moving to Stanford from any USA state requested financial help to move.

• 21.6% of postdocs moving to Stanford from outside of the USA states requested financial help to move.

• 40% of postdocs moving to Stanford from Latin America requested financial help to move.

Postdocs moving from Latin America pay less in housing in their first month

• 60% of postdocs who move from Latin America spend $3,000 or less in their first month of rent, deposit and other moving expenses.

• 50% of postdocs who move from Asia spend $3,000 or less in their first month of rent, deposit and other moving expenses

• 37.1% of postdocs who move from places other than Latin America or Asia spend $3,000 or less in their first month of rent, deposit and other moving expenses.

Most postdocs would request moving financial aid from Stanford if available

• If available, 80.2% of postdocs would have requested financial help to move to the Bay Area.

More postdocs, in particular Latinx postdocs, are paying high rents compared with January 2022

• 78.2% of Latinx postdocs pay more than $2,000 USD monthly for rent and utilities. This is compared to 66.2% of non-Latinx postdocs in the same bracket.

• In January 2022, 47.3% of all postdocs payed more than $2,000 of rent per month (SURPAS 2021/22 benefits survey).

Latinx postdocs are more likely to live far from campus

• Latinx postdocs are less likely to live in the nearby Palo Alto-Menlo Park area: 41.8% for Latinx postdocs vs 58.3 % for non-Latinx postdocs.

• Latinx postdocs are more likely to live on the extremes of the Caltrain line (i.e. San Francisco or San Jose): 20% for Latinx postdocs vs 6.4 % for non-Latinx postdocs.

• 6.2% of postdocs live on campus. This is similar to the 5.6% of postdocs who lived in Stanford-owned housing in January 2022 (SURPAS 2021/22 benefits survey)

Cost of rent + utilities distribute similarly across the Bay Area

• Except for San Jose, we observed postdocs in all the expenses brackets in all regions surveyed.

Most postdocs own a car

• 71.7% of postdocs own a car, regardless of whether they self-identify as Latinx.

Owning a car increases transportation expenses, more so for Latinx postdocs

• The median postdoc without a car spends $101-$200 per month on transportation, while the median postdoc with a car spends $201-$300.

• For postdocs who don’t own a car, there is little difference in transportation expenses between Latinx & non-Latinx postdocs.

• Among postdocs who own a car, 50% of Latinx postdocs spend more than $300 per month in transport. In contrast, 20.2% of non-Latinx postdocs spend the same amount.

• Overall, the median Stanford postdoc spends $201-$300 on transportation per month. In contrast, the median postdoc spent $100-$159 per month on January 2022, representing at least a 25% increase (SURPAS 2021/22 benefits survey).

• Note: the full text of the question was Do you own a car?

Postdocs moving from the USA states are more likely to own a car

• 79% of postdocs moving to Stanford from any USA state own a car.

• 50% of postdocs moving to Stanford from outside of the USA states own a car.

• 66.7% of postdocs moving to Stanford from Latin America own a car.

29.5% of postdocs spend more than $1,200 per month on food

• The median postdoc spends $101-$300 per week on food regardless on whether they identify as Latinx.

• 29.5% of postdocs spend more than $300 per week in food, or approximately more than $1,200 per month. In January 2022 only 8.9% of postdocs spent more than $1,100 in the same category, at least a 3-fold increase in this proportion (SURPAS 2021/22 benefits survey).

Latinx postdocs are more likely to have partners

• Latinx postdocs are more likely to have had partner (63.6% vs 56.1% for non-Latinx postdocs) before coming to Stanford.

• More postdocs have partners now when compared to their time before Stanford. Latinx postdocs are still more likely to have a partner (67.3% vs 59.6% for non-Latinx postdocs).

• For Latinx postdocs, their partners were more likely to have had a salary before coming to Stanford (82.9%) than now (70.3%).

• For non-Latinx postdocs, their partners were less likely to have had a salary before coming to Stanford (61.4%) than now (76.3%).

A quarter of Stanford postdocs have dependents

• 25.5% of Latinx postdocs have dependents.
• 22.3% of non-Latinx postdocs have dependents.`
• In january 2022 26% of all postdocs had dependents and/or significant others enrolled in the Stanford Health Care Alliance plan (SURPAS 2021/22 benefits survey).

Postdocs feel that their salary doesn’t cover their life expenses

• 63.3% of postdocs do not feel (i.e. responses 1 or 2) that their postdoc salary cover their life expenses.

Financial concerns negatively influence postdocs

• 70.4% of Latinx postdocs and 63.5% of non-Latinx postdocs feel negatively affected by their financials at Stanford.

• There is a direct relationship between postdocs feeling that their salary doesn’t cover their expenses, and feeling that their financial situation negatively affects them.

• Note: the full text of the question was “Do you feel that your financials here at Stanford have affected negatively your wellbeing, progress, comfort, mental health, etc.?”.

One quarter of postdocs are saving money for retirement

• 25.5% of Latinx postdocs are setting up some money aside for retirement.

• 27.4% of non-Latinx postdocs are setting up some money aside for retirement.

Moving costs, other than housing, negatively impact postdocs

• 79.2% of postdocs with moving expenses (other than housing) greater than $2,500 feel negatively affected by their finances at Stanford.

• 63.1% of postdocs with moving expenses (other than housing) of $2,500 or less, feel negatively affected by their finances at Stanford.

Other factors have little influence on the negative effect of postdoc finances

• There is no relationship between first month expenses of a postdoc, and the negative impact that they feel from their finances.

• There is no relationship between the year a Stanford postdoc started their appointment, and the negative impact that they feel from their finances.

• Owning a car is a associated with a small increase (from 66.2% to 62.3%) in the likelihood that a postdoc feels that their Stanford finances negatively affect them.

Healthcare and childcare are other major expenses

• Respondents were asked Please list any other expenses you have. Include whether they are related to health, childcare, personal business, or anything else, and how much do you spend on them monthly.

• 98/212 (46.2% response rate) participants responded.

• 35/98 (35.7%) of responses mentioned healthcare cost for themselves or their dependents. For those who provided a numeric estimate, the median was $245 USD.

• 17/98 (17.3%) of responses mentioned childcare costs, with a range between $1,200-$4,000 USD per month. The median cost reported was $2,400 USD.

• The wordclouds above reflect the most common words for Latinx and non-Latinx postdocs.

Open comments highlight financial needs and their consequences

• At the end of the survey, respondents were asked Please add any comments that you have about your financial situation or other topics that you feel are affecting the financial lives of postdocs.

• 95/212 (44.8% response rate) participants responded.

• The most common themes were:

  1. 21/95 (22.1%) of responses stated that being a postdoc at Stanford is possible because of a partner’s income and/or not having children.
  2. 16/95 (16.8%) of responses mentioned not being able to save money for emergencies.
  3. 11/95 (11.6%) of responses mentioned that relocation assistance was needed to move to the Bay Area.

• Other recurrent themes included the negative mental health effects of financial burdens, having to live apart from immediate family, the need for salary to keep up with cost-of-living increases, and deciding to leave academia for financial reasons.

• Two respondents described sacrificing needed healthcare treatments.

• Two respondents mentioned going into debt as a postdoc at Stanford.

• One respondent described daily dinners of instant noodles.

• One respondent stated that video games were the only coping mechanism available.

Additional issues

• Additional issues were identified from open comments by survey respondents

• The data in this survey shows that some postdocs do not have the resources to move and live in the Bay Area, and successful cases should not be used to dismiss the real needs of other postdocs. One responded quoted an email, that they received from a Stanford administrator, in which their difficulties to move were sarcastically dismissed.

• Visiting scholars are not considered postdocs by Stanford and they have access to even fewer benefits when they do the same job and are in the same career stage as formally recognized postdocs.

• In the current Stanford healthcare plan, in order for disabled partners to qualify, they may risk losing benefits.

Quotes

Based on the salaries of postdocs, I do not feel valued here at Stanford, and at times struggle with resentment and regret for pursuing my postdoc training here, given the financial debt I am forced to take on in order to learn here. Unfortunately, I doubt there will be significant change during AY22-23 for my benefit, but I am hopeful - at the very least - future change will occur so postdocs do not have to continue to struggle with this financial suffocation.

I consider myself as a poor person here. I did not have this feeling since my bachelor period.

Financial struggles are a big problem for me.

I’m always nervous about my finances.

Postdoc salary is really far from the reality to cover the crazy house rent.

Minimum salary of postdocs at Stanford is not enough to cover all our expenses. In my case even when I am single and not kids, it is complicated to save a good amount of money for the future.

As a postdoc with a child, my postdoc salary alone is not enough to cover even basic living expenses.

I get paid on the higher end of the spectrum for a postdoc through my fellowship and am still living paycheck to paycheck, frequently overdrafting and this is with my partner making just about the same that I do.

it is not really possible to put anything aside for emergencies or the future, and the thought of that is kind of unsettling at times.

Childcare costs are huge. I decided to not get pregnant during my PostDoc as I wouldn’t be able to sustain the costs.

It is very demeaning and damaging mentally to be “poor” after all these sacrifices. Yes,, the salary is enough to get through the end of the month, but not to sleep sound. This is not a comfortable financial life.

A Stanford postdoc may be setting me up for career success (although even that’s a crapshoot), but it is financially ruining me. It’s also hugely problematic that Stanford refuses to allow partners on the healthcare plan unless you have a legal certificate of marriage or domestic partnership. This is especially onerous for disabled partners who risk losing benefits if they marry.

dual income should not be necessary to survive in this area.

I don’t think postdocs should have to depend on a well-paid spouse or generous PI to live and work here.

At the end of the month I sometimes do not put a single dollar on the bank. “Extra things”, like car repairing, health related expense or green card application are devastating. It’s good that videogames exist.

even though my situation is stable it is not stable BECAUSE of my salary as a postdoc at Stanford.

I have been eating three instant noodles per week as dinner because I need to save as much as possible to buy a car for my wife.

It’s impossible to live normally in the Bay area without a car, which is unfordable.

I think I am a very frugal person in general, but the costs of having a car, living alone in a tiny studio, and paying for student loans are enough to take up all my salary.

Postdocs carry a large load of work. If we are adequately compensated, especially in light of inflation and high taxes in CA, it would take away all the anxiety which detracts from our ability work with some peace of mind.