'I need to pay my bills': More than 56,000 students now do sex work to make money at university

ITV News reporter Katharine Walker has been investigating the number of students turning to sex work to pay their way through university

Over 56,000 students in the UK are turning to sex work to pay their bills at university, new research has found.

The cost of living crisis, combined with real-terms cuts to maintenance loans, means the average student is around £600 out of pocket every month.

Researchers warn that more students might feel forced to turn to sex work unless financial help is given to students by the government.

The survey of 1,786 undergraduate students commissioned by Save the Student shows that 3% of students in the UK are now doing sex work to make money at university. A further 6% said they would do sex work to raise cash in an emergency.

Figures seen exclusively by ITV News also reveal the West Midlands has the highest number of student sex workers, at 5%. A further 5% said they would do sex work to raise cash in an emergency.

In the East Midlands, 2% of students do sex work to make money, but a record 9% said they would consider it if they were strapped for cash.

Overall, students in the North of England are more tempted to turn to sex work to raise money if faced with a cash crisis.

The survey found that 8% of students in the North West and Scotland, 7% of students in the North East and 6% of students in Yorkshire would doing consider sex work to pay the bills.

Sex worker David made over £25,000 selling explicit pictures and videos online last year

David, whose name we’ve changed to protect his identity, is one of the tens of thousands of students in the UK turning to sex work.

Alongside his studies he sells explicit pictures and videos to his subscribers online. The money helps pay his student rent, which is almost £2,000 pounds a month. 

David told ITV News: “Every time I pull out my phone to create content I almost feel sick of the idea of what I’m doing because it’s kind of disgusting.

"But on the other hand, the money that it brings in, it’s great. It’s the reason I live where I live, why I eat what I eat.

“I worked out in my first year I made more than £25,000 pounds. That was more than my teacher at the time.”

With bills expected to rise again this winter, the mental health charity Student Minds wants to see more support for students struggling with money. 

Jenny Smith, Policy Manager at Student Minds, said: “We know there are different reasons why students enter into sex work. What’s important to us is they’re not stigmatised for doing this, or dissuaded from looking for help and support where they may need it.

"For us this is a symptom of the cost of living crisis and we’re worried there are some students participating in this who don’t feel like they have a choice."

Without urgent government intervention, Save the Student is worried that more undergraduates will turn to risky ways of raising money.

The student money website wants to see the education secretary increase the Maintenance Loan to catch up with inflation.

Save the Student is worried that more undergraduates will turn to risky ways of raising money

Jake Butler, COO at Save the Student, said: "More students are turning to sex work because of the lack of money there is for living costs. The maintenance loan, which is the money the government gives them to cover their living costs, hasn’t kept up in line with inflation.

"It was already at a point where it wasn’t high enough. So students are looking for things like credit cards, gambling and sex work. Students are seeing it as a way to make money fast, as a way to get by at the end of each month."

In a statement, the Department of Education said: “Many of our universities are doing are doing a brilliant job to support students who are struggling financially through a variety of programmes, and we urge students who are worried about their circumstances to speak to their university.

"We are supporting universities to help students who are struggling financially by making £276 million in Student Premium and Mental Health funding available this academic year, which institutions can use to top up their own hardship schemes. This is on top of increases to student loans and grants."

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