Two female British academicians report that more women than ever before are now paying for sex: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/women-are-buying-more-sex-than-ever-before-new-research-claims-10272103.html. The 21 male escorts (female clients are to be interviewed next) the Drs. Sarah Kingston and Natalie Hammond interviewed for this study gave lack of time for a relationship as a main reason for seeking their services. Although the research “found that women who pay for sex come from all ages, backgrounds,” one might suspect that unmarried career women, especially those with children, would have less time for relationships than others.

Fred Lapides expands on this point at http://extragoodshit.phlap.net/index.php/more-professional-women-are-paying-for-sex-in-the-uk-study-finds-and-heres-why/ when he states, “The study shows that the increase in escort demand is mainly from women in their 30s and 40s.” He quotes Dr. Kingston as saying, “Our participants say most of the women who buy sex are professional people, some of whom may simply want pleasurable sexual experiences. Paying an escort is described as a way of ensuring discretion, as opposed to other ways of securing sexual encounters. Some female clients also seem to not want or have the time for a ‘conventional’ relationship.” He also said, without citing the source, “others cited motivations like spicing up their sex life in a relationship or looking for companionship — sometimes paying to go out to dinner and spend time together, in addition to sex.”

In 2012, ABC News broadcast a piece about the increasing use of gigolos in the US by women: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/secrets-gigolos-women-pay-sex/story?id=15644065 Men interviewed for the piece described their clients in positive terms: “Most women are successful in business, college educated, can be in their 20s, 30s, 40s, women that travel a lot.”

The ages of both UK and US women who partake of gigolos’ services are much lower than the old stereotypes depict. That many much younger single women have considerable income of their own is surely one reason. Another reason may be that by the time a woman reaches her late 20s, her prospective dating pool is considerably depleted from what it was when she was in college and this pool depletes further during her 30s until it is practically devoid of men she might consider for a relationship. A third reason must be that renting sex partners relieves the women of the burdens involved in maintaining relationships.