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Number of ‘sugar babies' at UNF doubles in less than a year

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The number of “sugar babies” on University of North Florida’s campus has more than doubled in less than a year.

For two years, Action News Jax has been covering the growing number of local students using the website Seeking Arrangement to connect with wealthy older men in exchange for money, gifts or vacations.

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“My mom knows. It’s not something I would share with my dad, obviously,” said a 21-year-old UNF student, who created a profile on Seeking Arrangement last year.

She asked Action News Jax not use her name to protect her privacy.

“I literally felt like I wanted to try something different. And maybe there are a lot of students at UNF, a lot of girls, who want to try something different,” she said.

Hundreds of local students are giving it a try.

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At UNF, 164 students have accounts on Seeking Arrangement, looking for sugar daddies or sugar mamas.

That’s more than double the 76 UNF students signed up in May 2018.

A UNF spokesperson told Action News Jax no one was available for comment on the trend.

Flagler College has 65 student sugar babies, according to the website, an increase from 45 last year.

Florida State College at Jacksonville's sugar baby stats have remained steady at 122 this year. It was 123 last year.

According to Seeking Arrangement, the average sugar baby gets $3,000 in gifts a month from their sugar daddies.

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The UNF student who shared her story with Action News Jax denied the 43-year-old man she dated for nearly a year ever gave her money.
“Nothing too extravagant, but definitely some awesome meals, and wine and dine kind of things,” she said. “Making love to each other, that’s, like, a part of a relationship. So, that’s part of any relationship that I’d be in. So, I would say, yes, it’s a part of it. But it’s mutual. It’s something that you guys both want to do.”
“Generally, I go out with girls that are between, like, 24 and 31,” said Robert, a New York sugar daddy who’s asked that we only use his first name.
Robert said he expects sugar dating and sex to go hand in hand.
“If it’s a good companion, then I would hope that the sex is good. So, it really does work together,” said Robert. “I like to have a nice connection. If I do, I’ll help somebody out, whether it’s paying for a little tuition, or paying for car payments, or whatever. And then we go on nice, like, five-star vacations and we go out to dinners.”
Last year, Action News Jax reported more than 100,000 single mothers were turning to Seeking Arrangement to ease the financial burden of raising their kids. You can read more about that here.