Sugar Daddies are helping students get through financial hardships in exchange for negotiated relationships.
According to the latest statistics released by matchmaking website Seeking Arrangement, hundreds of students across Canada have signed up to find wealthy benefactors who can help them get through post-secondary education in exchange for paid dates and well, other arrangements.
The statistics revealed two Toronto-based institutions topped with highest number of "sugar babies." The information was gathered based on the email address students used to sign up using their college domain.
Seeking Arrangement showed the number of active sugar babies on the site was highest from University of Toronto (683) followed by Ryerson University (577) and University of Guelph (554). The average age of the sugar daddies on Seeking Arrangement is just 38, which is one of the reasons fetching students' attention.
Above all, the plunging Canadian economy, low youth employment, rising debts and costs of academic degrees have collectively contributed towards students' unconventional methods of paying for college. According to Statistics Canada, the average tuition fees for an undergraduate student in Alberta were $5,730 in 2015. But depending on the courses, such as medical or dentistry, the cost can quadruple.
This is just the basic costs, and other expenses such as books and study materials, housing, food and more can add thousands more. To overcome such challenges, sugar daddies serve an easy way out.
But student advocates have warned against such methods.
I'm concerned about power dynamics in relationships like this," Fahim Rahman, president of the University of Alberta's Students' Union told Postmedia News. "When you're a student, you're definitely more vulnerable and you're getting involved with someone who might be a bit more established in their life and career, and (the student) might be negatively impacted."
According to Seeking Arrangement's insights, average earning of a sugar baby is $2,700 a month, which is 80 percent higher than wages made by age group of 24 and below. In the last two years, the site has seen students' participation rise from 1.4 million to 2.5 million.
