Stock photo from Unsplash
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Central Visayas is among the top regions in the Philippines with the most number of ‘sugar babies’, a study from a dating platform revealed.
Malaysia-based online dating service Sugarbook, in its Gifts, Allowances and Arrangements report, showed that Central Visayas is among the Top 5 Sugar Baby and Sugar Daddy Regions in the Philippines.
Out of the 200,000 users it has in the Philippines, Sugarbook identified 22,665 ‘sugar babies’ and 8,452 ‘sugar daddies’ from Central Visayas.
Metro Manila topped the list, with 144,462 sugar babies and 33,749 sugar daddies.
It was followed by Calabarazon and Central Luzon in that order. Northern Mindanao rounded up the top five regions.
Increase in Filipinos signing up as sugar babies
Founders of Sugarbook, on the other hand, observed an increase in Filipinos signing up as sugar babies over the past months. In a statement, they reported a 189-percent increase in traffic surge in the Philippines from December 2022 to August 2023.
Of this number, 80 percent were sugar babies, they said. The company’s executives attributed the rise of sugar babies in the country to socioeconomic factors such as inflation and unemployment.
READ MORE: Dating apps and Telegram: How China protesters are defying authorities
“Driven by financial difficulties, an increasing number of Filipinos have signed up to Sugarbook to maintain their desired lifestyles,” said CEO and founder Darren Chan.
Central Visayas recorded its highest inflation rate in December 2022, when it jumped to 8.5 percent, based on existing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Inflation, which is used to measure the general increase of commodities and essentials, in the region rose sharply from 5.2 percent in June 2022 to 7.6 percent in July 2022. Then it further went up to 8, 8.3, and 8.4 percent in August, September and October of the same year.
As inflation rose to 8.4 percent in October last year, so did the unemployment rate in Central Visayas. From 4.6 percent in July, it jumped to 5.8 percent in October 2022, according to PSA data.
Sugar babies average earning
On the other hand, Sugarbook also surveyed at least 10,000 sugar babies and sugar daddies last August, revealing that 55 percent of sugar babies earn, on average, P57,700 per month.
“With an average monthly allowance of ₱52,000, sugar dating has helped enable those in need to have stable livelihoods,” added Chan.
READ MORE: It’s easiest to find love online in Central Visayas – study
Further findings from the survey showed that around 44-percent of the women surveyed, who signed up to become sugar babies, were unemployed.
Of the 10,000 surveyed, most of them, or 54 percent, wanted to earn allowance on a monthly basis. The rest wanted to try becoming a ‘sugar baby’ for travel experiences, emotional support, physical intimacy, mentorship, and luxury experiences.
Most of the sugar babies also channel their earnings towards education and career advancement while 24 percent of the respondents said they invested their monthly allowance on real estate.
/bmjo