Livre d'Or

I think we get a better deal as UK-based PhD students and postdocs.
As PhD students almost certainly. 3-4 years of research against 5-6 years of taking classes, doing departmental grunt work and fitting in a bit of research in between is no contest as far as I'm concerned. As postdocs I'm not sure; I think it depends what you want out of the system. American postdocs are (on average) better paid and have a better chance of getting permanent positions sooner.