Around a quarter of a million university students in the U.K. are using Seeking Arrangements, a sugar daddy dating app that introduces young women to wealthy men.
With the costs of a university education being somewhat daunting these days these girls are looking for ways to enjoy a lifestyle only few can dream of these days. Along comes the sugar daddy dating app Seeking Arrangements and the girls apparently can’t wait to sign up.
Apparently the term “student” also applies to part-time workers and trainees who are short on cash.
Are sugar daddy apps a form of prostitution? 250,000 UK students are now signed up: https://t.co/5dADQoG9f8 pic.twitter.com/IashlMjYdl
— BBC Three (@bbcthree) February 8, 2016
According to figures based on email address sign-ups, the app has seen a 40 percent growth in the last year. However in their report, the BBC did note that with email sign-ups, some users might have multiple accounts on the sugar daddy dating website .
Reportedly it is also unclear just how many of the young women have actively gone out on dates with wealthy older men.
As reported by the International Business Times ¸ most of the recent sign-ups for the sugar daddy app hail from the University of Kent and the University of Portsmouth. Reportedly both institutions are high cost when it comes to both fees and accommodations, thus forcing the students to look for other ways to raise cash while studying.
The BBC interviewed Clover Pittilla, 20, from Bournemouth who uses the sugar daddy app. Pittilla explained that the service isn’t for everyone and there is a certain standard the girls have to meet.
She said, “They are somewhere in life materially where they want to be and they just want to have fun now.”
Pittilla did say that people on the sugar daddy dating site are very open about sex.
“Sometimes, sometimes [there is an expectation of sex] but they are usually quite forward with that. They usually say it straight away. If that’s what they want then that is what they want.”
She continued by saying that if that is not what the student wants, then she doesn’t have to do anything, adding, “But if they are attractive or whatever and you wouldn’t mind, then why not.”
As for the Seeking Arrangements sugar daddy website itself, its founder and CEO Brandon Wade says they offer their clients full security on the site.
“Unlike other dating websites, it’s my commitment to operate our business ethically. This means caring about your privacy, encrypting identifiable data, and never employing fake profiles or software bots.”
Wade continued by saying that when they say there are more women than men on the website, they mean this, adding they can promise each sugar daddy up to four sugar babies, which is definitely in their wealthy clients’ favor. He further said that the website offers ideal relationships which are “honest and upfront.”
According to Wade they also look after the young women applying to the sugar daddy app, listing available perks such as shopping sprees, paid bills, expensive dinners and exotic vacations, but also pointing out that their sugar daddy mentor can offer the ladies “valuable guidance for long-term stability.”
Despite the increase in popularity of the sugar daddy app, some comments made following Pittilla’s interview with the BBC compared the dating site to prostitution, which Pittilla says is unfair.
“Some think it is like prostitution but it really isn’t. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
A search on Twitter relating to the Seeking Arrangements sugar daddy app brings up some interesting and often humorous responses from students, which may point to the fact that their studies are getting somewhat interrupted by their dreams of luxury.
So I made an account on seeking arrangements but I can’t even work the damn app. Sugar baby life might not be for me
— BLUE’S BABY HAIRS (@GrandeNoir_) February 9, 2016
spent almost as much time as I spent applying to jobs deciding if I should set up a seeking arrangements profile
— independentyouth (@docilebody) February 9, 2016
should I do my biology homework or sign up for seeking arrangements?
— Meagan ? (@meagatronnnn) February 4, 2016
[Photo via Flickr by Romain Drapri/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ]