Is this the beginning of the end of early career precarity?

As a round about way of getting a truthful answer to the career problem in research science, over the last 15 years or so I have casually asked various senior (therefore continuously successful) biomedical research scientists in Australia whether they would recommend a research career in science for their children. Many said how rewarding their career was, yet not one said yes. All invoked the inbuilt insecurity and the lottery-like aspects of grant application success in an environment where in each round 80-90% of grant applications will go unfunded. It looked, and still looks, to me like a crisis in confidence in choosing research science as a career, and students (at least my students) are aware of this. I guess this demoralization is not restricted to research science.

The real world can be a cruel place in which to study and / or work. Increasing numbers of undergraduates and post graduates are finding themselves in long term debt after being in higher education. All Universities should now issue potential students with a "Financial Wealth Warning" indicating that HE can seriously damage your wealth. The academic world is part of the market economy where demand and supply of labour is unpredictable. Take care to ensure that the jobs you apply for are sustainable.