Sugar Babies Spill the Beans

SeekingArrangement claims 5 million members in 139 countries and recently there has been a considerable increase in the last few year. 1.9 million college students signed up to the site. Brook Urick, spokesperson for the site, says, "A couple years ago, we noticed that a lot of the sugar babies on the site were college students. It was a trend we attributed to rising tuition costs. It's almost impossible to afford an education, and after graduation students are stuck with low income jobs, trying to pay off their loans."

"A lot of girls see this as a way to finance their future," she went on. "If you can find a guy to provide the lifestyle you want, help you with school, mentor you, be kind of a rich boyfriend, you can graduate debt free and have connections after graduation."

Sugar baby "Sarah" is in her fourth year and studying biology. She signed up to SeekingArrangement on a small whim in March 2014 when a friend of hers did it as well. She says that she receives a lot of messages, but considers herself to be "selective". She also said how she enjoyed building connections with people. She says that getting something out of the people she’s meeting isn’t the only thing she’s after. In fact, Sarah was on the site for nearly one year before she took the step to actually meet someone in person. Until now, she has met up with two men: one whom she encountered only once, the other with whom she began a relationship.

Sarah says the relationship began somewhat normally, with the usual dating. He lives a few hours away but comes to Cleveland, where Sarah lives, quite often for work. After that, they started traveling together, doing more fun things and getting a lot closer.

Payment: The Sugar Daddies and Sugar Mommas

On average, sugar daddies and sugar mommas are 45 and their "baby" counterparts 26… With a majority of sugar babies being female. On average, around $3000 a month is “paid” in cash, as well as various gifts. SeekingArrangement also allows sugarbabies to list how much they are expecting to get, which is usually between US$1,000 and US$20,000.

36% of sugar babies' incomes go towards tuition, 23% on rent and 20% on textbooks. The rest goes to clothing, transport and other miscellaneous things. Brook Urick states that there are more than just financial benefits to using the site. Networking is certainly a major part of the deal, as well as being "mentored" by their older counterparts. This helps with getting access to the world of business.

"A lot of guys and girls are stuck in specific dating pools, especially in college," she said. "You don’t meet someone who is career oriented and established in the first year of college, whereas sugar moms and dads are already successful."