The Sugar Babies

At the moment, SeekingArrangement claims 5 million members who are spread over 139 countries. The last couple of years has also seen a considerable rise in membership numbers, with 1.9 million college and university students creating accounts. SeekingArrangement spokesperson Brook Urick says, "A couple years ago, we noticed that a lot of the sugar babies on the site were college students. It was a trend we attributed to rising tuition costs. It's almost impossible to afford an education, and after graduation students are stuck with low income jobs, trying to pay off their loans."

"A lot of girls see this as a way to finance their future," she went on. "If you can find a guy to provide the lifestyle you want, help you with school, mentor you, be kind of a rich boyfriend, you can graduate debt free and have connections after graduation."

"Sarah" is one of these sugar babies. She is in her final year, studying biology. She joined the sugar daddy site in 2014 and says that she gets quite a lot of messages, however is very "selective". Sarah says that building connections is also part of the fun, and getting something useful from people is not the only thing that she's looking for. In fact, it took Sarah a year to meet with someone in real life and so far has only met two. One of the men is one she is in a relationship with at the moment.

The relationship began as any regular one would, with ordinary dating. As they got to know one another, things became a lot more fun and exciting with travelling and more.

The Payout The Sugar Daddies and Sugar Mommas

On average, sugar daddies and sugar mommas are 45 and their "baby" counterparts 26… With a majority of sugar babies being female. On average, around $3000 a month is “paid” in cash, as well as various gifts. SeekingArrangement also allows sugarbabies to list how much they are expecting to get, which is usually between $1,000 and $20,000.

Statistics show that on average the "sugar daddy" is 45 and the "baby" is 26. Most of these sugar babies are young women. A considerable number receive US$3000 a month in cash, which are spent on a number of different goods or to fund a specific lifestyle. Nowadays, a considerable number of younger people are spending this money on college tuition.

Sites like SeekingArrangement can also provide relationships that lead to connections in the world of business. So it's not all just about cash!

"A lot of guys and girls are stuck in specific dating pools, especially in college," spokesperson Brook Urick said. "You don’t meet someone who is career oriented and established in the first year of college, whereas sugar moms and dads are already successful."