Was impressment an improvement over merchant service?

Was impressment generally seen as good or bad by merchant sailors?

Conditions were mixed: naval food could be better at some periods, while merchant service generally paid more despite smaller crews. East India Company ships also had reasons to feed men well enough to retain them.

Merchant vessels often sailed with roughly a third of a warship's complement, leaving fewer men to do the ship's work. Better wages could offset some of that burden. Naval food was superior at some periods, while East India Company ships also needed to provision crews well enough to keep them. These differences complicate any general claim that being pressed into naval service improved a merchant sailor's circumstances.