[throwawayarnty]

You’re right that France is also bad (also spain) but it’s better to sample around phd salaries in different countries. Roughly in euros per month:

Netherlands: 3000

Sweden: 3000

Switzerland: 4000

France: 1500

Italy: 1000-1500

Spain: 1000-1500

Germany: 2000-3000

USA: 2000-3000

Uk: 1300-1600

Note in many countries you get benefits like insurance, pension, unemployment insurance (basically free money after your PhD).

In summary, there are different tiers, and UK is at the bottom tier comparable to France, Spain, and Italy.