It’s really, really bad right now’: NIH scientists dismayed by Trump cuts

I finished my PhD in a STEM field primarily funded by the NIH in 2008. I did a post doctoral fellowship for 3 years where I was paid $10 an hour when you accounted for my fixed salary vs the hours I was putting in. At that time, we were in full austerity mode thanks to austerity forced by republicans because of the market crash and 9/11. Getting funding was an absolute bitch, and when you did get a grant award, they would come back to you and offer you half of what the award was. At the end of those 3 years, I realized I didn't need a PhD to make $10 an hour, left the field and never looked back in 2011. It took 11 more years to land a job that has reasonable hours, pension, ample vacation/sick time, and a living wage ($28 an hour in Albany, NY.) My current job has nothing to do with what I studied for. I ended up using my publication experience from writing peer reviewed journal articles to get into medical insurance contracts/underwriting/customer service, and I now work in a position where I enroll state employees in benefits and have the opportunity to teach them how to use their insurance coverage without getting fucked over financially.