Sugar dating

Sugar dating, also called sugaring is a transactional dating practice typically characterized by an older wealthier person and a younger person in need of financial assistance in a mutually beneficial relationship. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (2017), the term "sugar" is slang, but is often used as a modifier to "sweeten" something, and as a euphemism for money. Payment can be received by way of money, gifts, support or other material benefits in exchange for companionship or a dating-like relationship. The person who receives the gifts is called a sugar baby, while their paying partner is called a sugar daddy or sugar momma. In an interview in 2015, Brandon Wade, the creator of the website SeekingArrangement, stated that he saw a demand for online dating originally on sites like Craigslist. At this time it was a place for people to solicit sex and Wade noticed people were overworked which left less time for dating and companionship.

Sugar dating is especially popular in the online dating community because of the easy access to specific niches and desires.

As sex work is becoming more mainstream it has become more likely that students and people are likely to choose to join the sex industry because of its beneficial outcome. Sugar babies often offer multiple experiences with their companions from escort agency-like services to the girlfriend experience. It is common to have the desire for genuine connection from both parties. The "girlfriend experience" allows for the feelings of a consensual non-commercial relationship so long as there is also a monetary exchange.

Prevalence

With the rising costs in tuition, cuts to bursaries and the increasing pressure of student debt, sugar dating is especially prevalent among students. Research suggests that there is a growing phenomenon of female university students working in the sex industry to pay for their post-secondary education. Due to the nature and stigmatization of sex work in the marginalized, and hidden population there is limited information for the percentage of student participating in these types of relationships.

In 2015, the website Seeking Arrangement claimed to have over 1.4 million students among its members, comprising 42% of registrants. Almost one million of these are in the United States. According to SeekingArrangement, in 2015, 36% of "gifts" received by women using their site was spent on tuition payments, while 23% was used to pay rent. The rest was spent on books, transportation, clothes, and other items. The websites used to negotiate sugar arrangements are technically dating sites, and what happens after the initial date, whether involving sexual or other activities, is between the parties. Membership on one site in 2016 was $70 per month for sugar daddies, but free for sugar babies.

Though students make up a large proportion of sugar babies, the practice is not exclusive to students, as it also exists in older age ranges. Described in 2015 as an expanding trend, sugar dating is most prevalent in the United States, followed by Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Colombia.

Legality and comparison to sex work

There is debate about whether this practice can be considered sex work i.e., purchase of intimate attention, sexual or otherwise. In an article from Deutsche Welle, the CEO of SeekingArrangement denied that the site played host to prostitutes and their customers, saying that "escorts and their clients are never welcome on our sites". One woman who used the site made it clear that she didn't want to sell sex, and that she didn't see herself as an escort. Another user, a man, admitted that the "economic power relationship is very noticeable" between him and his sugar daddy, and that he sometimes had to have sex with his sugar daddy when he didn't want to.

Sugaring has been called the modern counterpart of the 17th-century courtesan, "a prostitute, especially one with wealthy or upper-class clients."

Sugar dating sites were affected by the 2018 Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act passed by the US Senate, which prompted the closure of many sugar dating sites operating in the US. This includes Established Men, a sugar dating site owned by the parent company of Ashley Madison, Ruby Corp, and the personals section of Craigslist.