Atlanta is the 2014 No. 1 city in North America for Sugar Daddies, according to a study from the dating website SeekingArrangement.
Seeking Arrangements, a Sugar Daddy website, states it connects wealthy older men (Sugar Daddies) and women (Sugar Mammas) with younger individuals (Sugar Babies).
The website also states it hosts an estimated 2.6 million Sugar Baby users and 1 million Sugar Mama and Daddy users.
“We provide relationships on your terms,” SeekingArrangement’s website states. “Where Sugar babies enjoy a life of luxury by being pampered with fine dinners, exotic trips and allowances. In turn, Sugar Daddies and Mommas find beautiful members to accompany them at all times.”
The website also states there has been a 50 percent increase in Sugar Daddies since 2013.
“Many traditional relationships fail because there is not enough give, and too much take. Lets face it. It’s hard to find ‘your other half’,” the website states. “Things would be much easier if goals and starting points were already set forth before entering said relationship.
Entrepreneurs and other professionals were both the most frequent types of position holders for Sugar Daddies, according to SeekingArrangement infographic.
Additionally the graphic states the average Sugar Daddy is 39-years-old, makes $275,301 annually and spends approximately $5,100 per month on his Sugar Baby.
Brandon Wade, Founder and CEO of SeekingArrangement says’ the term ‘Suar Daddy’ is simply not moniker, reserved for the ‘one percent’ of the population, according to SeekingArrangement’s website
“It is a lifestyle embodied by single men who have a genuine, vested interest in adding value to their partners’ lives,” the website states.
Company spokesperson Jennifer Gwynn said most women who sign-up on the site as Sugar Babies are ‘Southern Belles,’ according to the website.
Additionally Georgia State was ranked the fastest growing Sugar Baby school in the nation with 292 registered individuals. The university also has a 60 percent growth of members over two years, according to the website.
Freshman La’shaee Davis said she is surprised by the large amount of sugar babies at Georgia State.
“…But at the same time… Atlanta is one of the biggest sex trafficking cities in the country,” she said.
States such as Georgia, Texas and Florida make up half the list with university Sugar Babies, according to SeekingArrangement’s website.
Gwynn said the growing number of Sugar Babies is the result of socio-economic issues.
“The South was hit especially hard by foreclosures other economic difficulties,” she said. “A lot of these girls thought there would be money for them to go to college from their parents. The economy changed that.”
Georgia State sociology professor Dan Carlson said it’s a conventional breadwinner-homemaker arrangement that draws students to the lifestyle.
“This arrangement is the product of a separate spheres ideology which suggests that men and women are naturally very different,” he said.
Carlson also said the ideological roles men and woman can also factor into the decision to participate in this lifestyle.
“Men are tough, independent, analytical, and adventurous. While women are weak, dependent, emotional, and childlike. It is important to note that these differences ARE NOT NATURAL, rather they are social constructions and only arose after industrialization and the advent of wage labor,” he said.
The Sugar Daddy / Sugar Baby relationship dynamic has been around as early as the 20th century, according to Carlson. He said this is when women transformed themselves into ‘the weaker sex role’, which included additional focus on physical attractiveness.
“Women focused on attracting men who will take care of them,” he added. For men, the benefit is that they gain a subservient woman who is sexually attractive.”
However Carlson also said there’s an importance of power in dynamic of these relationships.
“Please note that power is central here. By becoming economically dependent women give up power to men. The sugar daddy has all the power in these relationships,” he said.
The Sugar Daddy / Sugar Baby study is released annually by SeekingArrangement. Wade said the site is expected to see a 50 percent increase in users for the years to come, according to NPR.
