As college tuition prices rise, more and more students are trying to figure out how exactly they are going to pay off their loans and other debts. You may hear students joking about how they only need one kidney or how faking their own death seems like a viable option. But all joking aside, some college students are actually becoming “sugar babies.”

Sugar babies are not just candies. A sugar baby is a young person (stereotypically they are female, but males can be sugar babies too) who “dates” a much older, rich person called a “Sugar Daddy” — or a “Sugar Momma” depending on the gender of the person. I put quotations around the word “date” because it’s not really dating, but it’s not quite prostitution either.

Basically, the sugar baby offers the sugar daddy/momma companionship in exchange for money and nice things. These nice things can include physical possessions such as handbags, trips around the world or fancy dinners.

Personally, I am hesitant to call sugar babying prostitution because the relationships don’t necessarily have to include sex. Also, notice my use of the word “relationship.” While prostitution is more of a transaction, a do-it-and-get-out sort of thing (pun unintended), sugar babies and their sugar daddies do have some sort of a relationship. This relationship includes what is expected and what is not. This of course includes whether they will be having sex, or if it’s just a companionship that happens to include fancy dinners and weekly allowances. 

There’s also the fact that sugar babies choose who they want to have this relationship with, versus a prostitute not really having a choice for who their client will be.

Am I against the whole sugar baby/sugar daddy relationship? No. I am not.

I think that as long as all parties involved know what is expected of them and they all consent to it, it is fine. Again, note my use of the word “all.” If you are going behind your spouse’s back, then I think it’s wrong. But if two unmarried/single people are in this type of relationship and it is a respect filled one, I see no harm in it. 

Granted, I think that if sex is involved in the relationship it gets much more complicated than just a younger person going out to dinner and occasionally calling a much older person. Still, my previous statement stands; as long as there is mutual consent in all aspects of the relationship, there’s really no harm.