Now for an employment trend you won’t see from Statistics Canada. Way back in the day you used to be able to work a summer job and save enough to pay off tuition. Unfortunately in 2017, this is no longer even close to a reality for most. Rising tuition costs of “necessary” degrees, low youth employment, and rising debt has created an environment where millennials are scrambling to stay afloat. That’s not a secret. The secret is: 1 in 10 Canadian students are seeking sex work to help pay the bills.

206,800 Students Are Looking For Sugar Daddies

Over 206,800 students are using the platform Seeking Arrangement to find “sugar daddies.” That’s a staggering number once you realize Statistics Canada shows only 2,054,943 students enrolled in postsecondary education programs. These “sugar babies,” young people that receive an allowance in exchange for a relationship, are over-represented by female students. Over 40% of all sugar babies in Canada are pursuing postsecondary degrees.

The most expensive cities tend to be the ones with the most student sugar babies. Using the email addresses, Seeking Arrangement determined that Toronto-based institutions scored the top two spots. 683 sugar babies using student emails were from the University of Toronto, and 577 students were from Ryerson University. Oh yeah, and if you’re wondering why you don’t see more young girls with Boomers, it’s because the average sugar daddy is only 38 – which is not at all what I pictured.

Active Sugar Babies By University

Sex Work Doesn’t Always Involve Intercourse

Not all sugar babies engage in an exchange of intercourse for money, although that does happen. According to Alexis Germany from Seeking Arrangement, sugar daddies are seeking “all the aspects of having a romance without the added baggage that comes with a more traditional relationship.” This can be anything from just talking on the phone, to sexting, cam shows, or the whole shebang.

Is this predatory, or just smart students who have run their numbers and don’t want to end up in a pile of debt? According to Alexis, “everyone lays out their expectations from the very beginning.” Basically there’s an informal contract where the sugar daddies don’t have to worry if “she only likes me for my money” (spoiler, she does), and the sugar babies get to stipulate exactly what they will and won’t do for the arranged upon sum. It’s pretty much an employee, employer relationship – which makes me wonder how many daddies issue tax forms.

Sugar Babies And The Economy

The sugar baby employment sector has been experiencing large growth, likely due to the downturn in the Canadian economy. Alexis told us, “The costs of higher education, housing, food, etc. continue to rise, but salaries are not increasing. Many young people are looking for alternative ways to close the gap between what their paycheck will cover and what they need to live.”

Probably not what your parents were hoping you’d do in college, but it’s apparently quite lucrative. According to Seeking Arrangement, the average monthly allowance given by sugar daddies is $2,700 (“plus gifts”). This is 80% higher than wages in the age group 24 and under.

That’s if you can find a wage in that age group. Canadian youth unemployment has soared over the past ten years, and participation has also tanked. From 2006 to 2016, unemployment experienced a ~12% change, rising to 13.1% of the labour force. If that wasn’t bad enough, the participation rate that results in the labour force decreased by 3.6% to 63.7%. That was pretty number-y, but the bottom line is 1,590,900 kids aren’t working – 123,000 more than 10 years ago.

Youth Not In Traditional Employment

The Canadian economy is entering unchartered waters, where millennials have to hustle with what they’ve got. Instead of joining the club with record high debt, some are embracing non-traditional employment options. Whether these non-traditional employment options are enough to curb the economic headwinds, well…that’s up for debate. Leave your comments below.

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