Manchester is at the heart of the ever-increasing ‘Sugar Daddy’ phenomenon thanks to aspiring Hugh Hefners in the city.
In a recent top 20 list of Sugar Daddy cities in Europe, Manchester came in at number two, with 4.68 Sugar Daddies for every 1,000 adult males.
A Sugar Daddy is a term traditionally used to describe an older, wealthier man – prepared to give and spend money on lavish gifts in return for intimate relationships or companionship from a younger woman.
According to the study, Manchester Sugar Daddies have an average age of 40 and spend £2,247 per month on their Sugar Babies.
Public opinion seems to be mixed about Manchester’s place in the Sugar Daddy rankings.
‘’It’s glorified prostitution, years ago girls would do it to support their children but now they do it to support lavish lifestyles,’’ said Mark Douglas, who works in Manchester city centre.
Sarah McDougal, a 45-year-old human resources worker from Moss Side, offered a more liberal perspective.
She said: ‘’As long as its two consenting adults and everyone’s got their cards on the table then it’s fine.”
Ms McDougal then added: “But where are they all?”
American site SeekingArrangement.com, the world’s largest Sugar Daddy dating website with over two million members, are responsible for the study.
In the past year, the website has experienced a 71% increase in the total number of Sugar Daddies joining up as more and more single men turn to the ‘Sugar’ lifestyle.
In January, MM reported how female students in Manchester were using Sugar Daddies to fund university tuition fees.
The University of Manchester had the thirteenth largest ‘Sugar Baby School’ in the UK with a reported 134 new sign-ups in 2012.
The list of the top 20 Sugar Daddy cities in Europe – with the number of Sugar Daddies per 1000 adult men – is below.
1 Bristol 5.65
2 Manchester 4.68
3 Oxford 4.64
4 London 3.96
5 Glasgow 3.52
6 Paris 3.47
7 Amsterdam 3.35
8 Barcelona 3.29
9 Athens 3.23
10 Stuttgart 3.2
11 Dublin 3.09
12 Stockholm 2.98
13 Belfast 2.74
14 Edinburgh 2.58
15 Berlin 2.41
16 Copenhagen 2.28
17 Budapest 2.13
18 Leeds 2.06
19 Rome 2.05
20 Madrid 2.01
Image courtesy of Luke Ford, via WikiCommons, with thanks.
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