'A quarter of a million' UK students now using sugar daddies, according to app
Source: bbc.co.uk
Modernity!Apps have changed the way we date. Meeting someone new is as easy as swiping right. Rick Kelsey meets the power-users relying on apps to find the one, and considers the negative effects of seeking love on your smartphone.
A leading sugar daddy app says it now has almost a quarter of a million UK students on its books.
Seeking Arrangement claims it's seen a 40% growth in the last year in young women joining.
The figures are based on email address sign-ups, so some accounts could be people with multiple accounts, while the term students includes part-time workers and trainees.
What's not clear either is how many of the users are "active" and go on dates.
Official figures released last month suggested a rise in crimes linked to dating apps and are also leading to an increase in the rates of sexually transmitted infections, according to doctors.
Last year a study found that more than a fifth of students had thought about being involved in the sex industry.
One in 20 students who took part said they'd worked either in glamour modelling, web-cam modelling, stripping or prostitution.
Seeking Arrangement says it aims to hooks up wealthy men with younger women.
It claims the most new sign-ups have come from the University of Portsmouth and the University of Kent.
The app makers say they believe the high cost of university fees and accommodation in the UK is making students look at new ways of making cash while studying.
There is evidence that suggests fewer students are working while in full-time education.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says its figures suggest 29% of 16 to 24-year-olds were working in 2015.
That's a 7% fall from 10 years earlier.
Read the rest: bbc.co.uk
