Coventry University student has received over £20,000 from sugar daddies online

Stressed with bills and rent and £3,000 in debt at the age of 19, Emily turned to the controversial world of sugar daddies.

Struggling with the living costs such as bills, rent and food shopping while living away from her home, Emily turned to a dating website to help alleviate her this stress.

“It’s either go out for fancy dinners and engage in conversation for a couple hours or sit at home and cry about how poor I am into my Aldi microwavable-meal”.

Dating websites such as Seeking Arrangement promise to match wealthy, older men to younger, attractive women. The site is fast and free and is a place “where beautiful, successful people fuel mutually beneficial relationships”.

These arrangements can be anything from an intimate relationship to a platonic friendship with a mutual understanding and benefits.

“When I first moved to Coventry for university, I was shocked with how expensive everyday living was. I’m already in debt with two student overdrafts of 1,500 each in addition to the £27,000 uni course debt. I knew that the average part-time job wasn’t going to help lessen any of this stress. I needed money fast and I needed it now”.

Emily became interested in the industry after receiving a message through her Instagram from an older man acknowledging her attractiveness and offering her a sum of money in return of her company.

“I do receive a student loan but it’s only around £3,500. My rent alone is 6,200. So yeah, his offer was really appealing to me”.

Emily had never even considered become a cam girl (someone who performs or poses on webcam for money) before due to all the stigma, she found this message was very intimidating. After declining the offer several times, the gentleman increased his offer.

“I quickly realised that there really are men out there with too much money and not enough things to do with it. I still didn’t feel comfortable doing any sexual favours for money though so I did some research”.

Emily soon came familiar with online “dating” websites that allow wealthy men to interact with young women looking for money or frequent presents.

“The arrangement is mutually beneficial and different men want different things. I’ve found a few men that are just lonely and happily pay me to sit and talk to them and listen about their days”.

These simpler arrangements are difficult to find. Most of the wealthy men on these dating websites are older and looking for an attractive younger woman to give them sexual favours in return for holidays, cash or luxurious presents.

Emily’s profile does present some flirtatious photos to encourage men to message her, but has never given sexual favours and makes it very clear what her agreements are.

“You have to be the confident and demanding one. It’s take advantage or be taken advantage of. There’s a lot of men out there that are willing to be financially dominated, you’ve just got to sift through them all”.

Emily has been doing this for over a year now and has built rapport with several sugar daddies. She has accumulated around £21,000 from one of her regular paying sugar daddies. She Skypes him once a fortnight and receives a monthly allowance of £2,000 for doing so.

Emily sees no issues with meeting men through Seeking Arrangements and being paid company. She hasn’t yet met anyone that she would want to have an intimate full-time relationship with but doesn’t leave it out of the question.

“Meeting friends and partners online is so normalised now. I feel like me using seeking arrangements should be accepted like someone using conventional dating websites or social media to find people”.

**Emily’s name has been changed for anonymity**