‘Old money’, warm body

If you've been out of the loop, the sugar-baby-sugar-daddy world is booming. Chances are, if you're here, you're already acquainted with the dynamic: the older, and the affluent at the paying end of the deal in exchange for girlfriend experience.

The specifics of the agreement can vary widely. And, outside the aquarium, good deals are sometimes hard to come by.

Sugarbook, Asia's largest sugar-daddy online dating platform, has narrowed down the search.

The application's user base (to wit 4.5 million globally) is constantly expanding, representing, in the Philippines, a nice bell curve.

Poll by Sugarbook shows there are 144,462 sugar babies and 33,749 sugar daddies in Metro Manila (the sugar baby capital of the Philippines). Data suggest a significant number of patrons and services are in Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Central Visayas and Northern Mindanao.

The increase of activity on Sugarbook in the Philippines is astounding: 189-percent spike in traffic between December 2022 and August 2023, 80 percent of new users being sugar babies.

This increase is attributed to the difficult economic climate in the Philippines.

Sugarbook founder Darren Chan: "Driven by financial difficulties, an increasing number of Filipinos have signed up to Sugarbook to maintain their desired lifestyles. With an average monthly allowance of P52,000, sugar dating has helped enable those in need to have stable livelihoods."

Further insights from the survey reveal that 55 percent of sugar babies earn up to P57,700 per month, with 22 percent falling within the P141,500 to P283,000 allowance range. A select few, constituting 2 percent, enjoy monthly allowances exceeding P283,000.

"The keyword here is choice, and that is what [Sugarbook is] essentially about. If men are allowed to date women for their youth and beauty, women should be allowed to date men for their wealth and status."

The signup process is free for sugar babies aged 18 and above, while sugar daddies can access premium features for a nominal fee of P1,526 per month.