Sugar Daddy Site Claims the Government Shutdown Has Increased Its Signups by 50%

Seeking Arrangement thinks the government shutdown may have something to do with its membership uptick

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Matthias Clamer

Notorious “sugar daddy” site Seeking Arrangement, which sets rich people up with beautiful people in decidedly shallow and capitalist relationships, claims that it’s seen an uptick in new user registration over the last week. The reason for that increase, despite the fact that September and October are typically slow months for the site? The government shutdown (or at least that’s the working theory).

“We usually have a lull in September and October,” Seeking Arrangement’s PR manager Jennifer Gwynn told NPR. “For us to peak at the end of the month in September, and this week in general, it makes no sense for us to have a growth like this. Half of the new members are single moms, so we’re thinking that it’s tied directly to the government shutdown, since programs like WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), that help more than 9 million moms, have been stalled. It would make no sense for growth otherwise.”

NPR also notes that What’s Your Price, an auction-type dating site that allows users to bid on first dates with other users, also saw an above-average increase in new registrants over the last week.

While this smacks of all-too-convenient self-promotion on the part of both brands, it’s possible the numbers are related to the shutdown, particularly if low income women left in the cold by the shutdown are looking for new ways to pay the bills, as Seeking Arrangement speculates. Plus, what else are bored park rangers and NASA employees going to do with all their free time?