HOFBERG: The Hunt for a Sugar Daddy

What if I told you that the solution to all my financial troubles was as simple as going out on a dinner date? Would you believe me?

It’s called a sugar daddy-sugar baby arrangement.

Alright. Fine. So there’s a catch. I’d have to be OK with dating, and potentially sleeping with, someone who is old enough to be my grandfather. But I’ve got to be honest. If dating a man over 60 means my student debt could be cleared within a year, then I don’t care if he’s 160.

Let me set the record straight here: I’m not lazy and I’m not afraid of real work. Actually, I have every intention of putting my Masters degree to good use and the truth is that I really do aspire to be a well-respected journalist one day. However, until I’m hired as a full-time columnist at The Boston Globe, I’m going to have to figure out another way to pay the bills.

It seems that I’m not the only one who has discovered the secret of the sugar daddy. In fact, participating in sugar daddy-sugar baby relationships is becoming an increasingly popular way for young, financially strapped and debt-burdened college-aged women, and even men, to seek out creative solutions to their money woes.

According to the SeekingArrangement.com, the dating site that boasts over 3 million members worldwide, 40 percent of the website’s total population was comprised of college students in 2011. After a 58 percent increase in co-ed signups in 2012, the total population amount then grew to 44 percent. And with college tuition rising, you better believe that the number of college users will continue to grow. The website even encourages the growth of the student population by offering college students a free premium membership upgrade if they register with their college e-mail address.

Oh, and get this. According to the site, the average monthly “allowance” that sugar daddies shell out to their “babies” is $3,000.

As it turns out, now that digital dating has become mainstream, there’s a handful of websites that you can choose from that connect older, wealthy men and young women looking for financial support. As for me, with graduation and unemployment arriving faster than I’m comfortable with, I’m about this close to making an account on SeekingArrangement.com, the world’s largest Sugar Daddy website, and becoming a sugar baby myself.

But before you call me crazy, let me say this. For many men on the site, sex isn’t necessarily the main motivation for starting up a relationship with a sugar baby. There’s no crime in paying someone solely for companionship, right? For some men, all they want is a young woman to sit across the table from them at dinner and humor them with casual conversation. Some just want someone to talk to. Others are seeking out a travel companion. I’m not saying that sex never happens, but what I am saying is that it’s not necessarily a requirement.

It’s not to say that I don’t understand the concern that many people have with the morality and legality of the practice, because I do. For many, it’s a concern of objectification, and I get it. When a man pays for the company, and perhaps even the body of a woman, emotional and physical intimacy become commodities that can be purchased, when, perhaps, they should be earned. Sugar daddies are buying themselves not just companionship or sex, but also status and power.

But the beauty of the sugar daddy-sugar baby relationship is the mutual benefit that those who participate understand very well. Sites that usher these relationships are simply conduits for both parties getting what they want. He get’s himself a charming dinner date and I get to pay my electric bill on time.

The sad truth is that for many of us struggling students, loans are a nightmare that will follow us for the rest of our lives. According to a report released December 2013 by the Institute for College Access & Success’ Project on Student Debt, 7 in 10 students graduated last year with student debt and the average debt load for the graduating Class of 2012 reached almost $30,000. Apparently, the cost of attending college is 60 percent higher than it was a decade ago. Oh, and only half of recent college grads are landing full-time jobs after graduation to pay off that debt. It’s a sad reality that the rising amount of student debt is making many people debate the value of a college degree compared to the risk of debt.

But why can’t I have both a college degree and no debt to show for it?

Well, with a sugar daddy, maybe I can.

Right about now, I’m thinking about all the bad dates I’ve gone on this past year alone and wondering why I wasted my time begging servers for the bill and splitting $20 checks, when the whole time I could have been paid for my company! And at an unbeatable hourly rate? Hell, $3,000 is more than three months worth of rent for me, and if all I have to do is escort an older gentleman to dinner then sign me up.