Stirring a saucepan of Heinz tomato soup in the kitchen of her shared flat, Katie Roberts* can earn £40 by the time her lunch comes to a simmer. Keeping half an eye on her phone, the 23-year-old settles in for the afternoon; by 5pm, she’ll have made £150 just from sending a few texts.

Katie is a recently graduated English Literature student with a first class degree from a top university, and plans to pursue a career in marketing. She is also one of thousands of young people in this country using sex work to combat the crippling burden of student debt. As she approached the end of her third year a few months ago, the prospect of life in London without a full-time job and a student loan playing heavily on her mind, Katie realised she needed to start making money, fast.

“Friends had earned money sexting men they met on the internet. You didn’t have to give them any personal details about yourself. You didn’t meet them face to face. It seemed like a safe, easy way to make money quickly. I set up an anonymous Instagram account and soon had guys messaging me.”

Moving off Instagram to make sure she was even less traceable, Katie began to find work on online forums filled with men offering large sums of money in exchange for a 20-minute text conversation. “Whenever I see anyone post a 'wanted' ad asking for something I’d be fine with, I send them a personal message," she explains, adding that she prefers to answer ads directly rather than advertise herself. On their ads, "people describe their budget, their kinks, if they are looking for anything specific. It gives me a chance to veto them before them seeing a picture of me.” Her clientele is mostly American, and prices vary depending on the whether their communication is just verbal, or involves pictures and videos.