I haven't regretted doing my PhD in the slightest. I've learned a huge amount, in a wide variety of areas. However, the system in the UK is a bit more favourable regarding funding. Having said that, the funding doesn't scale with location. I live in one of the most expensive cities in the UK (outside London), and am funded to the same level as everyone else outside of London.
The bigger problem I have is in deciding to leave academia. There are still questions I would like to know the answer to (and I expect there always would be). It just doesn't seem to make sense to take that path. Low pay, high competition, and the likelihood of being on a series of 18month contracts for the majority of your career. Indeed, in my specific field (Bioinformatics) the career path isn't even that well defined, and you can more easily get a job at a software company who will pay several multiple of what you could expect as a postdoc. It just doesn't make sense to do it.
The bigger problem I have is in deciding to leave academia. There are still questions I would like to know the answer to (and I expect there always would be). It just doesn't seem to make sense to take that path. Low pay, high competition, and the likelihood of being on a series of 18month contracts for the majority of your career. Indeed, in my specific field (Bioinformatics) the career path isn't even that well defined, and you can more easily get a job at a software company who will pay several multiple of what you could expect as a postdoc. It just doesn't make sense to do it.