Hard-up students are joining the Seeking Arrangement dating website, in the hope they will find a wealthy suitor who will pay for their tuition fees in exchange for ‘companionship’.
The girls – who are known as ‘Sugar Babies’ – are told they could earn an incredible £3,000-a-month income by accompanying men to restaurants, functions or the odd weekends away in luxury hotels.
The founder of Seeking Arrangement, Brandon Wade, claims the website has just over 1.4 million profiles, which belong to students across the globe.
Of the students signed up, London’s University of Westminster has the highest number of new British members, with over 180 students from this institution joining last year.
Speaking exclusively to the student newspaper The Tab, Brandon said: ‘Love is a concept made up by poor people.
‘At a time when graduates are guaranteed debt rather than a well-paying job, or even employment for that matter, Sugar Daddies are sought out for opportunity and not just financial stability.’
Brandon continued: ‘Four in 10 graduates struggle to find work, while three-quarters won’t be able to pay off debt.
‘According to their figures, the average student on the site spends their allowance on rent, books and tuition fees.’
In a surprising twist, 20 per cent of the girls come from high income families, while another 15 per cent come from upper-middle class backgrounds.
Less surprisingly though, the majority of new sign ups are undergraduates, who make up an incredible 73 per cent of its subscribers.
How does it work?
The relationship between the ‘sugar daddy’ and ‘sugar baby’ is known as an ‘arrangement’, whereas the payments that exchanges hands between the two is known as an ‘allowance.’
As for the payment itself, the ‘sugar babies’ are paid monthly by their ‘sugar daddies’, either in person, or when the couple meet up. Sometimes it’s in cash, other times it’s by direct debit into their bank account.
In addition to this set-up, a ‘ sugar daddy’ or ‘sugar mummy’ can have as many as five different ‘sugar babies’ to pay for at the same time.
This controversial way of paying for higher education is bound to divide opinions; some will argue it’s a morally bankrupt way of paying for you tuition fees, whereas others will see it as the only way for students to leave University without being saddled with huge debts.
What are your thoughts on this ‘arrangement’?
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