I'm not going to lie, on occasion I have considered selling myself for money. That is the desperation of a student. My parents barely earn enough money themselves and with no-one in the family previously having gone to University, I was somewhat of a new breed for them. Recently I have been volunteering with younger, deprived children who have the capabilties to go on to University but fear the debt they will be landed with. The farce that is the U.K. government is trying to feed these deprived teens with information about different types of loans, however, the realistic picture is that these loans barely cover rent and fees and then they are left struggling to cover other costs such as bills.

No wonder students are turning to prostitution, the State is a sham when it comes to HE.

I'm off to Cambridge to be a teacher next year...more debts I feel.

Becky, Reading,

Its's ludicrous to think that you need to go into the Sex Industry to pay your debts. I, like many other students work during the week or weekends and are able to pay rent and everything else. Yes, it's hard and tough work, to balance work with social life and university, but its doable. Plus the government has really good schemes of grants and/or tuition fees that can help you out on the costs. You may come out with debts, but in no case the situation is that bad to have to enter prostitution!

Luckily for me, I'm coming out of university with 0 debt, not many achieve that, but combined with a government grant (and you dont have to be a genius or sport-wiz to achieve it)and working 3 -4 days a week, I'm able to pay all my bills. It just takes a bit of hard work....

Philip, Uxbridge, UK

I had a female friend who posed nude on the Internet for money to help pay for university. I subscribed to her site as did many of her male fellow students. It was a business transaction--we paid the money and got to see her bare breasts and pubic hair. Yes she was selling herself but only she could make the decision as to whether that is a 'respectable' thing to do. As long as there is money to be made, there are going to be some attractive women who sell themselves in this way. She now has an extremely good job so I don't think it has harmed her career long term.

David, Sausalito, California, USA

If all you want to be is a whore, don't waste valuable space in the classroom. Frankly, I doubt most men want to hire the nuclear physicist who made rounds at their cousin's bachelor party.

Yes, student loans are set at an archaic rate that hasn't been changed since 1973, but 95% of students are not prostitutes, apparently.

Thank God for that. I'd had to see my secretary in "Hustler"

Danielle, Toronto, Canada

There have been several comments from people who clearly have no concept of the nitty gritty of a UK students finances - especially from the US. Take the two extremes, within which everyone lies,
a) the spendtrift, spending tommorows money, easily able to afford all the bills, spend time studying, relax/unwind, take the time to enjoy themselves like their parents did free of money worries.
b) the scrooge, watching every penny, following the motto 'live within your means', budgeting in advance by 3+ years, spending only this weeks ration. Fretting constantly over the debt they are incurring, seeing it as potential financial suicide. - should they fail their course. (which they probably will - from worry).

Are there any accountancy students out there with records they could share as case studies of both? then we could let the numbers speak to see if prostitution is 'optional'. It's important to remember how much time is taken by the course, so lecture hours/wk should be included.

I Holman, Cheltenham, UK

Edward,
The current student loans cover about one term of fees. Parents already contribute on average £4,000 a year. It's still not enough.
Girls of 19 or 20 sell their bodies out of choice are they? So do they enjoy it? What do you think? You have some facts to face up to.

Sam, London,

Oh please, cry me a river! It's not the system who "FORCES" students into prostitution, it's the STUDENTS who choose to do so.

Need money?

Ask your parents.
Get a student loan.

Edward, New York, USA

I think what most people are overlooking here is that often 'just getting a normal job' isn't always an option. In university towns, there are vast numbers of students, all looking for jobs at the same time, and often all looking for similar types of work - basic secretarial positions and shop work.

A similar thing happens when they all go home for the holidays, especially if, like me, they live in officially 'deprived' areas, with very high levels of unemployment. Employers often are not willing to be flexible enough to accomodate for student staff, who do have lectures to attend and essays to write, and even when they are, there simply are not enough jobs available.

I personally would never consider selling my body (probably more to do with being in a long-term relationship rather than anything else), but I know many people who have considered it. I look forward to graduating at the end of a 4 year degree with a minumum of £20,000 of debt. That's with 2 part-time jobs.

Ellie, Reading,

Manuel,
I live in Prague and the best universities do not charge tution fees.
However, according to certain study 60% of female university students work within sex industry. And believe me, most of them are middle class girls from decent familes. The reason for that is the desire to shop in designer's stores and living a in fancy apartement.
I am from working class family and I never had to 'sell' my body. But I do not mind shoping in 'cheap' stores!

Linda, Prague,

Shame on UK.

Cuba is poor country compared with the UK. But in Cuba the university education is free of any charges or tuition fees.

The UK government always lectures Cuba regarding human rights. What other human right is more important that the dignity of its own young population?

Portugal imported the UK “best practices” on education, namely the student loan system (in fact charging tertiary education, when before it was free of charge). Let’s hope the system is changed back to what it was before the UK based system forces a huge number of students into prostitution.

Manuel Almeida, Lisboa, Portugal

I'm doing work experience and I earn barely more in a months work as she does in a couple of nights. Lucky Blighter.

Charles, Derby,

Jefg,

The demand is there if you advertise in the right places. Certainly in the male equivalent of 'glamour' modelling.

Graeme, Dunfermline, UK

Meant to mention "Butlers in the Buff" - that's surely one of the male options as they are almost always students.

Graeme, Dunfermline, UK

No wonder it is a quick way of earning quick money. I think blaming this on uni fee is too sensational. It is common for any young prostitutes to advertise themselves as "students" so that their clients will be willing to pay more. Some girls have God-given earning power that no university degree can provide. I have no surprise that these girls would be easily lured into the sex industry when their moral standard is low enough to bear the job. It is actually meaningless for them to go to uni. However, by registering with a uni these girls make a lot of money with their real student-prostitute status. Then it is a very well-worth investment.
Girls that cannot resist such temptation are not good material for uni (well, in the good old days). Should men steal to pay their uni fee?

Steve, london,

If it is really a matter of high university fees which is forcing female students into sex business, I wonder what mate students are doing for paying high fees?

Aamir Kabir, Karachi, Pakistan

Are they paying Income Tax and National Insurance on their high earnings? I doubt it, so they deserve no sympathy from the rest of us who have to do so from our more modest earnings.

Paul, Coventry,

Wonder if the students turning to prostitution have thought about maybe giving up their mobile phones, cars and other luxuries students wouldn't have dreamed of 10 years ago.
My nieces both left uni with tremendous debts having had mobiles, cars and a healthy shopping addiction all the way through, obviously they had the debts too. When I asked if they were worried the answer was "Everyone else is doing it".
That must make it OK then??

Paul, Perth, Australia

Actually, Marianne, a 2:1 means quite a lot, speaking as someone who graduated six months ago, was employed full time two weeks later and now earning far more than average in a job that my degree prepared me for. Everyone I know who got a first is on the dole. Lots of people I know who got 2:2's are better paid than I am. We all worked all through uni, fully clothed at all times. I think it was maybe our well-rounded cv's and exhibiting the ability to take on more than one thing and still succeed that proved most helpful.. Do these girls put prostitute on their cv? A 2:1 really isn't too shabby. Are you doing media studies by any chance?

Lizzie Kaye, London,

As a male student, I find this is breaching the sexual discrimination act. I too wish to find similar sources of income such as escorting etc., but the demand is nowhere near the same.

So unfair.

Jefg, Manchester,

I have found you can get anything you want in life, as long as you are willing to sleep around a bit. I had model looks back in Uni so although I Failed to get any modeling jobs I wanted, I got plenty of rich old men to sleep around with, pay my bills and sometimes help me with my homework and make my sanwiches too (well their secretaries did)... and look at me now, I am the Senior Executive of a IT Company, earning 6 figure salary a year, woohoo! I got to the top by seducing my way through the gatekeepers on each level in the company and finally landed the hen with the golden egg, the CEO! We aren't on speaking terms anymore but as he has a wife and plenty of other companies to run, he let me keep one for myself ( bit of hush-up).....all I can say is Girl power!
And do I regret my past behavior? Absolutely not! I recommend it to all women of all ages as a way of competing with men and then getting ahead of them, just because the boss will always like you a little more than them!

robin, oslo, norway

So the women are turning to prostitution.

Why?

If it is out of necessity, what are men from similar financial backgrounds doing?

I rather think it is a short-term job choice. It might not be something a person would want to do long term (hence pursuing higher education), but it pays very well, and (in many countries) it is safer than other good paying jobs that have few prerequisites.

Some jobs have fatality rates so high you really are asked to sell your body ... permanently: taxi driver, night clerk at a convenience store, miner, construction worker, soldier working with munitions, firefighter, forestry worker, etc.

I feel looking down on women who sell sex to pursue higher education is just a matter of personal prejudice. If men could do it, it would be accepted.

Keith T, Winnipeg, Canada

Although I wouldn't want to become a prostitute, I fully understand how a student can not have enough money to study without partying every night, or even every week. To break it down:

Tuition fee loan: £3000 ( Paid to university. I will owe £12,000 + 4.8% APR - free government loan, I think not)
Maintenance loan: £3,300
Rent: £3,500
Textbooks, food, petrol, train tickets and occasional "treats" such as clothes : £2,000 - £3000

My parents income means that I do not qualify for any grants. However my "loan" doesn't even cover my rent, let alone textbooks or food! the ONLY reason I can afford to go to uni is because my parents saved up for 20 years to pay my rent. I fail to see why as a 21 year old adult studying for a degree to increase the UK's skills base I am judged on my parents income, and they are expected to use their life savings to fund it. I am studying for an engineering degree at a top ten university, yet I will not be out of debt until I'm 35, and that is without a house.

Vicki, Truro,

If she were clever enough she would have gone into full time work first in order to save up for university fees etc. I know a lot of girls who are doing just for example by working in supermarkets or doing admin jobs. I don't think any woman needs to turn to prostitution-not even as a last resort because there is always another option. I am a final year law student and I can't afford a lavish life style either even thouhg I'm living with my parents. To echo some people who have previously said that: once you finish uni you'll have the chance to live the life style you want (within certain financial, individual limitations of course); despite low starting salaries for graduates. Just give it some time and don't loose the sense od right and wrong. Imagine Catherine was a law student and slept with someone who would later- once she qualified seek legal advice...guess what he would think of her abilitiesas a lawyer/her competence. NOT MUCH in my humble opinion.

A Law Student, London, UK

For the attention of both men and women, yes sex sells and earns a lot, etc but, the stigma attached to being a prostitute/escort is going to stick with you for life. Old habits die hard too and whenever a former sex worker is caught up in difficult situations in future, they'll resort to sex once again in order to get them out of it, whether they are married with children, in a new life etc.
Also, working in the sex industry can get you killed, most serial killers tend to go after prostitutes as target practise, as nobody really cares if prostitutes go missing or show up dead as they did in Ipswich.
If I was in serious debt, I'd take a loan, work extra jobs, or get a decent degree that will help me get a high earning job (by that I don't mean degrees in english, music, sociology or psychology). Maybe its how I was brought up, but I wouldn't even consider having friends who resort to such means let alone do it myself!

mary, kansas, USA

How many students are left to these devices (or worse) due to uni administrators who conspire to deny aid when said student is seen as a 'troublemaker' for questioning such unsavoury practises as 1) preditory faculty preying upon students or 2) whistleblowing on grade/grants fraud or other illegal activities for which the student has no documented evidence and existing witnesses are intimidated into silence?

Heaven knows - it happens in the USA where documented evidence and cooperative witnesses aren't enough to goad federal investigators into doing their jobs when the perpetrators are ALSO civil servants.

Larry, Middletown, USA/NY

this seems to be a very female problem - how do the young men at college avoid having to resort to this? Surely thy get the same grant entitlement?

david penney, london,

Can anyone explain how a girl, ostensibly smart enough to earn a degree, isn't smart enough to earn enough to support herself while studying. Thousands upon thousands of girls (and men) have done the same, always, and in every country in the world.
Maybe the girls of whom you write are already whores at heart.

And by the way... The ultimate test of a whore: Someone who marries for money, or even considers it as a factor in their choice of husband.

Charles de Freitas, St.Petersburg, Florida

I bet these students are as delighted with Labour's present bizarre attempts to import extremist Swedish-style legislation into this country to criminalise payment for sex as they were with the introduction of tuition fees.

And I bet they won't be rushing round to the polling station to vote Labour any time soon.

Dave, Southampton, UK

University loans and grants are supposed to be subsidised by student holiday work etc. They are more than enough to live off if you have any sense of budgeting. If you attend Uni and leave with debt into a low paid job it is for one of two reasons; you either did a joke of a degree that is useless or you where too thick in the first place and left with a poor grade. As for having to go into the sex industry it is only because they are spendaholics! On the bread line earning £900 a week!!! I hope shes not doing accounting or we could be in for more northern rocks in the future!

cossentine, Newcastle,

I started Uni in Sept 1998 and I got a grant in my first year, so it was definitely Labour that scrapped the grant.

I do believe the research that a large number of girls are selling themselves. I know of one who did and another who thought about it.

By working at Carpetright all weekends and summer hols, i managed to save a few thousand every year when I was at uni. I'm sure things havent changed that much in the 6 that i've left uni. Its just most people cant live without the latest iPod or designer handbag, thats what gets them into debt.

Jamie Brown, Maidstone, England

Has anyone got the web address for her agency? I fancy doing my bit to help get Britain educated.
*******************************************************************
Students are faced with large debts (£15,000) on completing their degree to get a job for £20,000/year. But boys as well as girls face this and I dont think the boys have the option of selling their hide to make a fortune, but they still get through it. Its not just financial hardship. I think societies declining moral standards toward casual sex plus increasing greed also are part of the equation. the UK is one of the most expensive places to live, so making easy money will appeal to a young person with a mountain of debt and a toothpick of a salary to clear it.
********************************************************************
Anyone considering any kind of casual sex - BEWARE! A condom doesnt prevent all STI's some of which you get for life (e.g. herpes). Dont risk it.

Jack Sprat, Bristol, UK

I wouldn't prostitute myself for anything- most universities have a hardship loan scheme. However I do see where this is coming from- I'm at Kent Uni and my rent is £400 a month. My parents are relatively well off so I don't get much money, but my parents don't earn enough to pay my rent/tuition fees! You have to make the best of what you've got but New bloody Labour have just taken the biscuit with this!

Amy, Canterbury,

It would be somewhat unfair to suggest that this has not always been going on at the same rate. The advent of the internet has just magnified the apparent phenomenon. In the early 1980s, to my personal knowledge(!), a young female management studies student (ex-convent girl) at a leading Midlands University managed to sleep her way through an entire residential block of 33 males, financing a wonderfully-lavish lifestyle...... At the end of her first year, facing an overall fail-grade, she met one paricular professor in his office and earned a 1st Class award in that particular subject......

Well, what would you do????

ME TOO!

P R Haynes, Ontario, Canada

I worked all through my A levels and a four year university degree. I worked in a shoe shop, doesn't pay as well as prostitution but then again I wasn't expecting a champagne and designer outfit lifestyle as a student. I only graduated in 2002 so, not that long ago. I can have the life style that I want now, without having compromised my self-worth.

I worked almost all weekends, holidays even half a day during the week. The person in this article probably can earn what I earned in a year as a student in a month? But at what cost to her body, self esteem and respect!!! I cannot believe students need to prostitute themselves for a living.

Sure, if they want to wear Prada, Chanel and Manolo's, then perhaps. I would expect someone seeking higher education to have a few more brain cells than the average WAG wannabe who considers designer outfits the ticket to happiness.

EC, London, London,

Does anybody care? Women don't have to sell sex. They could always get a job like everybody else.

jo, london, uk

I'm a Law graduate who has sustained herself throughout University on the maximum £4,000/year loan, working part-time, and support in my final year from Hardship/Access to Learning Funds. My tuition fees were paid by the government and I received no financial help from my parents. I was conscious of my studies suffering due to working throughout Uni, however I was still able to attain a 2:1.

Having qualified for the maximum student loan and having my tuition fees paid I would count myself as one of the "poorest" students. Yes, sometimes I had to refrain from going out on the town with my parent-funded colleagues (which, I must admit was rather hard to stomach at the time), but my budget didn't force me to consider prostitution.

I cannot fathom why a girl who wishes to have a professional career after Uni would turn to prostitution to support herself. Yes, I didn't have much money and I have a mountain of debt to be paid off when I can afford it; small price to pay for my future.

Kelly, Manchester, Lancashire

15,000 In debt?
Wait until these kids are buying houses...
Debt isnt terrible... debt without the ability to pay it back proper is. Students need to understand this, Debt is not the end of the world so long as you have a plan to service it upon graduation.
Alternatively maybe the UK schools should bring in co-op programs in larger numbers.
The government should however provide extra funding to those who need it, and those who deserve it (grants, bursaries, and scholarships).

Evan from the GTA, GTA, Canada

S Madsen - How can you start to blame men. The article is about students turning tricks to earn easy money. They have the choice of how they are going to make ends meet. No one is actively persuing them to make money in this manner. It is their choice. The vast majority of students taking the easy financial route here are the female students. How are most of the male students and other female students making ends meet?
Women like yourself should stop blaming men and start accepting responsibility for your own actions.

H, London, UK

It wasn't Thatcher that abolished grants, I went to Uni during her time in office and had a student grant.

I remember the student union banning any Convservative from speaking to students on the absurd basis of "No platform for fascists!" .. pathetic really.

Grants became unsustainable when Nu Labour decided that Uni was for everyone!

James Dowling, London, UK

The debt burden of UK students is nothing compared to that of US students. A medical doctor can easily graduate with $100,000 worth of student debt. If you come from wealthy parents who can pay for everything at the "best" colleges, then you have no worries.

However, I see in Germany where I now live, students attempting to complete their "Abitur", which only grants them university admission, prostituting themselves to cover the rent and not have to skip meals. And Germany offer stipends, but it's far from enough.

It's not a matter of unqualified students in uni. It's that the best jobs will be available only to those with degrees from the best colleges, the highest grades, and probably those with graduate degrees. All very easy for children of the wealthy to attain.

This isn't a case of "wanting it all now" or "money for a WAG lifestyle. It's about having an adequate amount of time and energy to study and compete with students whose families can just write the checks.

Kurt Steele, Berlin, Germany

Don in Boston, MA.

I think that it was Labour that scrapped the grant, wasn't it? It was definately Labour that have increased the financial burden on students through the introduction of tuition fees in the first instance, and top up fees in the second instance to achieve a misguided policy of putting 50% of school leavers into university, which the state could never afford to pay for.

Thatcher hating you may be, but I think it's a little bit misguided to blame her for the current situation.

David Rose, London, UK

Kaisa, so what you and Gordon are saying is that the statistics are useless. I agree. End of debate until some proper statistics. I could say that it has been caused by colleges and unis encouraging lower classes to enrol. But I won't because there are no statistics to validate this assertion. Frankly I think it is a sad attempt by some people to boost copy, start a pointless debate,

Barrie, Brussels,

New Labour is responsible for this. By overcrowding the university system and reducing the grant, they have reduced so many students to abject poverty and debt. Thanks for nothing, New Labour.

RB, Aberdeen,

Looks like within a few years the only graduates will be female. The poor old male students won't be able to afford it, will they?

Sorry, no sympathy at all for educated women resorting to prostitution.

jane scott, London, UK

I remeber Gordon Brown saying loud and clear that university fees in the UK should be modelled after the U.S. format. I doubt he did his homework. If he had, he might have realized that in the States, most students leave university with staggering debts which take years to pay off and parents are saddled with major commitments of their own income and in many instances, their retirement funds.
The few exceptions are the very best universities (such as Harvard) which have billions of dollars of endowments and can thus provide extremely good direct grant donations to students in need.
Yet another D- to chalk up against George Brown's grades.

Bill Channon (brit expat), Francestown, U.S.A. NH

I'm more shocked that Lizzie from London has got an Engligh Lit degree but still doesn't know the plural of university, or indeed the correct usage of apostrophes.

No wonder people at university need to turn to prostitution!

Outraged, Sheffield,

Gordon Rae: Read the article again. The article says that more than four per cent of the survey respondents had friends who they knew lap danced, escorted or prostituted themselves during the course of their degrees and that the initial survey asked students if they knew of any friends who worked in the sex industry. So, around 96% of the survey respondents did not know if any of their friends worked in the sex industry, which does not mean that those friends didn't work in the sex industry. They are just not known to be doing such work.

Ken from Sydney: Your comment is rather sloppy. Any survey that addresses sensitive topics like this will have been anonymous. I suppose your experience in surveys is based on filling in a few poorly conducted questionnaires about grocery shopping habits, hence the ketchup reference.

Kaisa Puustinen, Southampton, UK

You can thank the Thatcher government for this state of affairs. They replaced student grants with loans, saddling college students with debt. They also ended school milk, an important nutrition for young children from deprived areas.

Don Milcaster, Boston, MA, USA

Why doesn't anyone say anything about the demand side of this equation? Who are these Johns anyway?? They are the real problem - talk about an appalling lack of morals! Why does everyone always focus on how morally bankrupt the women are?!? Demand creates its own supply. This is all so sad - that people can actually enjoy sleeping with someone they've paid so much that they will shell out £500 an hour is shocking, and makes me wonder who these men are.

S Madsen, London, UK

First - as a dancer and student- there is a huge difference between escorts and dancers. One sells sex, one doesn't. This needs to be understood.

Second - the point is not that we are living fast, champagne lifestlyes that a student loan doesn't cover, its that not all of us are granted student loans. And not all of us want to risk doing badly on the degree that will qualify us for life by working every minute we are not in class. Working two nights a week manages to cover my rent, bills and payments with only a little left over, and I NEVER go out 'partying'. What it means is that I can actually study the remaining five nights. So I can do well, get a good degree, leading to a good job (as a 2:1 means nothing anymore) which will allow me to build up to a high paying job with hard work.

He who is without sin, cast the first stone.

Marianne, London,

There'd be more money to give to real students if we didn't waste it on the party people.
Oxford don't let you work part-time so as not to interfere with study but we're very lucky to get financial support by our colleges if we can't afford to get ourselves through our degrees. If I didn't study 50+ hours a week, I could easily earn the necessities.
Students here work themselves to the ground&it makes me sick when I hear from friends who do absolutely nothing but get drunk.
How can it be that almost my entire year from school, most of whom most were struggling to hold down 1 decent A level, are now getting student loans to pay for their inability to make life choices bar 3 free years of partying?
The idea is that if you are intellectually able, you make a sacrifice financially, study hard, work hard if you must, get a GOOD degree, &then get a job paid well enough to enable you to pay your debt.
If you struggled at school, why the hell are you at uni,& why are you being paid to do it?

Frances, Oxford,

Anyone who says they "have" to work in prostitution to fund their academic studies is lying - they just can't be bothered to hold down a normal job. I could fill a book with the horrible jobs I did at college and uni, and a second volume with the financial hardships I endured (one jacket to wear, all the stuffing falling out, sellotaped together under the arms for an entire semester). But I didn't resort to selling my backside in alleyways to hairy strangers. I suspect Catherine in the article is just too vain and selfish to live without her "immaculate makeup" or "Mango jacket"...

Neil S, Glasgow, Scotland

The subject of State funding, or lack of it, for university eduction is so very easy to solve. 50% of the jobs in the UK do not require the job holder to have a degree so why try to send 50% of the population to university. Reduce the student population to a more realistic level and hey presto enough money to pay for free univeristy education for those who have the real academic ability to actually be capable of obtaining a worthwhile degree.

Mick, York,

The other day I read an article about the massive binge-drinking and drug culture at uni. This is plainly not necessary in order to acquire a degree, and it must also cost quite a lot. So if the students gave up drugs and drink, they would have more money, wouldn't they?

Alys, Colchester, UK

Despite the common view that all we do is lay about and drink beer all day, we are expected to put in 38 hours a week through contact hours and private study - the equivalent of a full time job but without pay!

Also, SCT from Stamford, I fully understand your frustration at not qualifying for grants or bursaries. The Student Finance Company seem to think that if your parents work themselves than they can afford to finance your every whim so getting full loan or gaining support from Access to Learning Funds is nigh on impossible.

There are also now a number of students caught in the gap between £3000 tuition fees and the old system of grants; many current UK home students have maintenace loans but do not qualify for extra help whereas there are now tuition fee loans and new grants for proper degrees like languages or engineering that we do not qualify for!

Holly, Birmingham, UK

Many years ago, I met a Dutch girl who was funding her way through an architecture degree at Amsterdam University by selling sex. I recall asking her whether she didn't feel she was being degraded by her experiences. She replied that she was very choosy who she slept with and was, as a result, having a great old time enjoying her (varied) sex life and earning plenty of dosh.

A few years later, I met a female manager in the public sector who wasn't married, didn't want to get married, and would only consider boyfriends who earned plenty of money as suitable, as these were the ones prepared to show her a good time, buy her presents and take her on expensive holidays.

There's no particular point I'm trying to make, just highlighting how difficult it is to make accurate judgments while it's temptingly easy to make quick ones. Prostitution comes in many forms but only the blatantly obvious ones get labeled.

Grahame Priest, Bristol,

I was lucky, when I went to Uni there were no fees (no grants either ). For 2 years I went to the Uni in the next town, lived at home with my parents and got the bus each day & worked eekend and summer jobs.

In my 3rd year I had to move out of home into college (still funded by my folks) and found I went through money at an alarming rate, spent all the money I had saved and all the money I was earning, and had an over draft.

I wasn't living the WAG life style and in fact I am quite thrifty, so I am hugely sympathetic to students today - so let's give them a break!

The point I want to make though is that these students are NOT being FORCED into the sex industry - they could give up Uni and get a job.

For them it's not a matter of survival, it's a personal choice.

If they would rather be in the sex industry than drop out, that's up to them. It's not what I'd do, but it's not business to judge it either.

Lets move on...

Apathetic, Newport, UK

If the Labour Government hadn't of embarked on its stupid policy of driving an unsustainable high number of students through university then the old grant system could have been maintained. And in doing so, pay for students taking proper degrees that are worth the paper they are printed on, and not waste the time of all the other young people who are sold down the river by taking third-rate worthless degrees; degrees that will sadly not deliver what they promise. Time to get back to the old grant system.

Nick Jones, York,

Students are practically encouraged to have sex, to be fair. Fresher's week is full of people handing out free condoms to advertise stuff. Is it really better to give it away for free?

Personally I think sex isn't treated with the respect it deserves in this culture in general. This is just a symptom of that.

Myself, I don't want to be in debt, but as a university student there's just no way around that.

Anna, Plymouth, UK

I think it's Britain's culture of sex rather than tuition fees/cost of living that drives students to sell sex. I have a lot of student debt but would never consider selling sex to pay for my fees!

When sex is so rampant in university life, it's seems a small step to take to get paid for it. It's the culture not the fees.

Sarah, London,

This is ridiculous. Of course you leave university with debt, why sign up for a course if you want to avoid it? What are these girls spending their money on? I had a wonderful time at university, worked two jobs to make ends meet and still came out with a 2:1 in English Literature from a top ten uni. I think maybe this just highlights how places at university's are being taken up by people who have no business being there. The type of girl who turns to prostitution is not the type of girl you can have an intellectual conversation with, media studies is NOT a degree, and if you need that much spare time to study that you can't hold down a job too then you are simply not bright enough to be there. These people devalue university qualifications and still expect sympathy. It's pathetic.

Lizzie Kaye, London,

This isn't news. I was at uni 15 years ago on 2 continents and had friends in both places who were hooking to pay their way through. They made a lot of money too.

Chris, London,

Andrew Average

'Though I am hardly surprised that kids taking Mickey Mouse degrees get drawn into easy money such as working for escort agencies, and EVERYTHING that goes with it.'

Did you go to University? The wild assumption that the students most pressured into this take 'Mickey Mouse degrees' is entirely unfounded. I have a BA in History, graduated last year and found it nearly impossible to fund it, working every minute I could. I'm supposed to be taking an MA in history, but cannot fund it.

My heart goes out to the students who have little choice but to turn to alternative methods to fund their degree - even I've been forced to consider it.
We're left with little else, it feels like no one wants to help, people assume student loans cover it all - believe me, after rent, tuition fees, and a little food - there's nothing left.

So thanks for this, to all power now, most of which got there by free grants and the goodwill of those before you. Thanks for the support.

Disillusioned Graduate, Winchester,

Average of 3 - 4 hours lectures a week I wish. Not if you do a proper engineering degree. I had 30 + hours a week of lectures and labs, and you were penalised if labs were missed. Then I worked in bars and as a market research interviewer as well as trying to do all the extra study that was needed for the course. Didn't have any time fo a "WAG lifestyle".
I left with quite a bit of debt, and that was before top up fees were introduced. I was one of the lucky ones because my dad paid me a small monthly amount - equivalent to the maintenance award that I didn't qualify for.
Many students don't qualify for bursaries etc since these take into account parents incomes etc, and there aren't that many of us who know those figures!!

SCT, Stamford,

Disgruntled student from Bristol...

Welcome to the real world. So you're £200 short each month for a basic existence? Work a couple of shifts a week, and stop complaining. Things aren't going to get any easier for you once you've graduated. We grown-ups have to work full time and still have tough budgets, you know.

Damian, Reading,

Where is the story here?

Let me sum up: Consenting adults legally engage in world's oldest profession. Some go on to make a career out of it, others move on to different things.

If people want to join the sex trade, let them. People talk about drugs, exploitation etc ruining prostitutes' lives but this is a wider issue. It is better dealt with by better regulation to improve the working conditions for existing sex workers than by trying to stop people joining the sex trade, which a) never works and b) seems to be based on a Victorian-style climate of prudishness rather than any evidence that prostitution per se is a bad thing.

Ed W, London,

How to lie (or seriously mislead) with statistics. Four percent of respondents "knew someone" who had engaged in sex work. That means 96 percent of students have NEVER EVEN MET a sex worker. But this is extrapolated to "eight percent of students ARE sex workers". That's bad science.

To correct the error, we need to factor in the number of friends students have. 50, 100, 200? Sex workers are not likely to be the shy introverted type. If we assume an average of 100 friends, the correct figure would be 0.08%, or one student in every 1,200.

Gordon Rae, Totnes, UK

And don't forget MB the Government also believes that graduates should pay more tax as they'll be earning more than non-graduates. And then they wonder why poorer students are deterred. What does a degree mean these days?

carole, London, UK

Hi,

I have read almost all the comments. What most students are forgetting is there are a lot of international students who come here to study and have to pay higher fees than a normal home/eu student. I for one came to do my Masters and worked almost 20 hours a day which included studies in the Uni, part time job and self study. We do not even get any students loan and we have to pay for every thing. Despite all this no international student I have know has sold sex to pay for the fees. I think its only the local and the home students due to there life styles and partying out have to work in the sex industry to pay all there bills.
Yes working 20 hours put a lot of stress on me while doing my masters but at the end of the day came out with distinction and this also without selling Sex..So I think students have to give up the partying and materialistic life styles till they finish the uni..

NS, Birmingham

nilam, Birmingham,

Just goes to show the lack of morals this generation has.

This kid is fortunate to work for what sounds like a responsible agency, how many are at risk? How many have suffered physical injury at the hands of thier pimps and 'Johns', how many have taken to drugs to blot out the psycological pain?

The 'I want it all now' society has brought us to this stage, coupled with a decline in moral standards held by our leaders.

Fortunately it's not all students, some of them have a proper work ethic and realise that allowing themselves to be abused as sexual slaves is not a safe way to earn a degree.

And 20k for a starter salary on leaving UN, hell I've been working for 40 years since leaving school at 16, my education only got to O level, but my experience far outweighs the so-called degrees of today, and I'm only earning around 18k.

Ron, Milton Keynes, Bucks

Excellent. Bring on another 10 years of nuLabour.

bobby tran, enfield,

This is tragic!
But then again, 20 years ago , when I was a student, only top 5 per cent went anyway.
Today, it's a matter of lifestyle and the taxpayer can't support free educaton for 50% of school population, it's ridiculous!

I am sure no one needs to sell their body and soul to fund their studies in this country, it's just this spoilt generration of women, wanting to go shopping every week, go out ever weekend, have expensive latest, phones, gimmicks etc...
No one is prepared to go without, stoop to conquer,
everyone wants everything, and now, please!

lana, maidenhead, uK

Life is hard and people have choices. The rise in prostitution is simply indicative of the rotten moral character of our society and the suggestion that rising tuition costs "force" women into prostitution, is a slap in the fact to all the people who have worked hard in honest endeavors to put themselves through Uni.

Britain's state can almost entirely be blamed on this mentality where personal responsibility is entirely abdicated to circumstances. This is a story that walks hand in hand with the vile stories of youth crime that are so dismayingly frequent. Welcome to Labour's "Cool Britannia"

Richard, Europa, Europa

I'm not sure what students beef is. If you want a higher education to get a better paid job later in life then you have to pay for it. Like the rest of us, they have to find money for food and rent etc. Why do they think the government, and by extension, the rest of us should fund them with student grants? Life is not free and you have to pay your own way. As has been said, prostitution is optional. It may pay well but most well paid jobs come with a price.

Andy, The Hague, Netherlands

I don't believe that students live an extravagent lifestyle, I left University 3 years ago with £30,000 worth of debt, (and I worked 25+ hours a week, working two jobs whilst there) didn't get that elusive £20K a year job that is banned about for new graduates and aquired another £10K debt trying to service my University debts. The government needs to wake up and realise that massive amounts of debt for 18-25 year olds is not the way forward.

I accept that it is my responsibility to pay back my debt, but I can easily see how people would enter the sex industry just to get by. I think there needs to be much more education about the costs of University before students take it on. I wish I had been told and I probably would have made the decision to work full-time and study in the evenings, not racking up the level of debt that takes over £700 of my wages every month....

Nicola, London,

LOL at where our society is heading. We are all depressed and no one is admitting this. All of us need therapy.

What is the root cause of this social depression? This decline in morality? The overriding truism of unlimited wants and limited resources?

At least we should have a good think about it.

Naqli Pathan, London,

nobody is forced into prostitution by by poverty or hardship. I grew up in Londons East End, from generations of the poorest people in the UK, absoltely poor, shoeless poor, but we didn't then and don't know, turn to prostitition. And the story is the same for poor people everywhere. Prostitution is a job choice by some people, some people want to work the hours they choose, and earn well, and have more things, and save money... some people like sex and can have it with anyone, some people enjoy being prostititues and wouldn't dream of doing anything else... like some airline pilots, soldiers, journalists, and lawyers enjoy what they do and wouldn't change. there are girls who go to sex as a job choice, but it is not a neccesity. the student admits she could work elsewhere, it's a choice she is free to make, and as a society we have to accept that, because it has always been so. But don't pretent there is no option, ther eis laways a choice, sex might just be the best paid and easiest

brian, bristol,

Prostitution, the world's oldest trade. Once upon a time girls used to give away sex for free - in loving relationships. Now it is just another commodity to be pimped. Our wonderful free enterprise society.

£20 000 a year is close to the national average wage. I think that is very good for someone leaving Uni, with NO work experience.

However, I find it sad that The Times has to stoop to this dubious sort of tabloid (or red-top) journalism. Though I am hardly surprised that kids taking Mickey Mouse degrees get drawn into easy money such as working for escort agencies, and EVERYTHING that goes with it.

Sex sell... even The Times has learnt that!

Andrew Average, London, UK

This is only "sensational" because of the uks outmoded view of sex for sale. This method of earning money has been going on for ever and if it supports a better education and is a key to a better life then it is surely better than buying drugs and ending up a burden to the state ( the usual official view of prostitution). We should, like most civilised countries, recognise the inevitability of prostitution and legalise and regulate the business and then these headlines would not make news.

mike gee, bournemouth, uk

The statistics seem to make a jumpe here, from talking about students who *know* a student who works in the sex industry, to the actual fraction that do.

I wonder if the rise of social networking sites has anything to do with a rise in the numbers who know someone who is involved?

As a student myself I can appreciate the lure of easy money. Full time study is hard work, the options are to be very poor (My loan doesn't even cover my rent for this year) or to work during term, which eats up a lot of study time. I am lucky to have a job which I can go back to during holidays where I can work as little or as much as I like.

I wouldn't like to feel that students are being forced into the sex industry, but with a need for cash, and limited time to earn it, I can see the appeal. It is certainly possible to fund yourself through Uni without parental assistance or selling your body though.

Wil, Nottingham,

hi
it is bad for her in long term. in my opinion govt policy is bad too. as parents we have paid enough taxes through out our working life to cover the cost of university education. our children should not go in any kind of debt to get education.
if they have to borrow money for their extra activities a loan facility should be provided. Fees and living EXPENSES ( rent /food bill inc) should be provided free of charge.this is their best part of their lives. When they start working they will pay tax for the same system for their childrens. govt policy seems to be odd. it is society as a whole should press govt for the change. student should not follow the path what 20 yrs old doing. all my children went to university with loan and grant.they did work while they were on their breaks.

k n saigal, chesham, uk

Another reason to legalise prostitution. GBP 50K per year tax free, for just TWO evenings work. Legalise it and tax it.

And really, 500 Quid/hour for an intelligent classy prostitute. WOW, sounds like a massive premium for the additional social intercourse on top of the other intercourse. What a waste of talking....

Bob Travels, Stevenage,

Perhaps the simple matter is that some students nowadays don't want to do without material needs and want to enjoy a cushy life. So they resort to these options. I believe the majority of students work hard and live frugally in order to secure a better future.

Hamad Lone, London, England

Where the hell are the parents? I've paid £24.000 to help my boy get through university with no regrets.

Mike, Swansea, UK

I agree to some degree with Douglas. I am a final year student and have managed to get my way through University without needing to resort to prostitution or £15 000 loan. True, I did not get a chance to party non-stop due to working 10-20hours every week but I have definitely had my fair share of fun. An average student has 4-8 hours of lectures a week, I believe there to be plenty of time left for studying, having fun and working. Additionally, students have long summer holidays, plenty of time to work full-time and earn some money for the study semesters.

I am by no means rich and would love to have money to splash on half-term breaks to the Alps, designer clothes, cool clubs and fancy restaurants. However, on the importance scale being able to graduate without having had to sell sex or be heavily in debt when I'm 22 weighs more than the things mentioned above.

R, London,

I'm a student in Bristol. I don't really go out anymore because I have too much work, I spend as little as possible. Yet my loan (the maximum amount i'm entitled to), only just covers my rent each month (320 pounds- bristol isn't cheap). Then there are bills (around 50 pounds a month), books and photocopying costs (around 25 pounds a month), food (even skimping as much as possible this is at least 15 pounds a week to afford a healthy balanced diet), and miscellaneous- travel, a little entertainment, etc. Let's call this 50 pounds a month. So, Douglas G from Oxford, am I lazy because my loan leaves me short of 200 pounds a month? I find the 'WAG culture' you talk about abhorrent, yet in your sweeping statements I suppose you're not accounting for people like me, hard working focussed students who, even without wasting all our money drinking our loans away, still find it hard to make ends meet.

Disgruntled student, Bristol,

I think it's a massive shame that students choose to do this. I don't know anyone who has been unable to live on a combination of normal part time work and the student loan. It's accepted that you're going to come out of uni with major debt, and you have to really economise - just ask a student how often they eat pasta a week - but surely thats better than getting into an industry which can be dangerous both physically and emotionally to those working in it? I'm sure some unfortunate people are 'forced' into it by serious money problems, but the fact that the student described in the article earns £900 a week, which is far more than the avergae student needs to live a week, suggests that she has not been 'forced' into it, but has rather been seduced by the high amount of money available.

zoe f, london, england

As long as their safe I don't really see the problem with it?? It's better than growing up with a huge debt on your head. What about blokes?? Isn't this article a little sexist?? Don't men have the same options but it is acceptable for them to participate in this sort of interaction? How strong is this research?? Word of Mouth??

Adam Webb, MK, UK

Prostitution is not always optional, B.S.M., but in this case it most certainly is. There are student loans available and countless bursaries available for those who are seriously struggling. In fact, these are often not taken up, as people assume that they are not eligible - perhaps a little research into these funds would be time well spent. Many people now also take a year prior to university to save money for their studies, and work during the lengthy vacation periods. This should supplement the loans, and if it is still necessary, a couple of evenings of work a week will not damage study time, as students rarely work the expected 40 hour week.
I agree with Douglas G in Oxford that students, and indeed the population at large, are increasingly expecting the extravagant lifestyle which is so often flashed across the front pages.

Regarding the low starting salary for graduates: Welcome to the Real World!!!

Recent graduate, London, UK

So make prostitution legal, tax it (£ 900 per week or 2 days = £46800 PA) and allow them to have their own career path.

We will never stop this and once they get used to £900 per week why will they ever take half that for a desk job?

joe, Edinburgh, Scotland

Having left university last year with around £20,000 debt hanging over my head (even without having suffered the much publicised "top-up" fees) I can well believe that this is a very real issue. I had three jobs at once for most of my time at uni. The loans the government offers are never enough to pay for what's actually needed - paying rent, buying 10 £30 text books a term, eating! Surely something needs to change.

Anouska, Reading, UK

When I was a struggling student, who didn't follow the WAG culture or have an irresponsible social life I was very tempted to follow a friend into prostitution to pay bills. However I was too scared of catching something or having a bad experience to do it. I'm still struggling with bills 3 years after uni and I almost wish I hadn't chickened out.

SH, UK,

Having gone through the story of Catherine case, I would like to say that this case seems to be inquiring the fixes of social and cultural life in the west wherein many like Catherine have no alternative but to compromise with their financial limitations and to invent the means of their own livelihoods by opting the most vulnerable choices they have before them.In my view, no question of moralities may be ejected in this behalf, since the choice before Catherine is to have displayed an evil act( as some may consider) to promote goodness of learning and knowledge- of course, a moral dilemma for Catherine and many others.

Syed Qamar Afzal Rizvi, Karachi, Pakistan

It does make an interesting story for the Times though... but should we care that some students do this in order to fund a lifestyle that's otherwise beyond their means? Prostitution is as old as agriculture, and trying to eradicate it is futile. Instead, make sure these people are properly educated about the risks and try and get organised crime out of the sex industry.

Compared to drugs and people trafficking, prostitution and lap dancing are small fry.

Kerome, London, UK

Are there no student loans available?? I find that difficult to believe.

K. Tyson, Mobile, AL

Yes, but only if you're Scottish living in a Britain run by a Scottish Prime Minister.

Jock, Dundee,

Are there no student loans available?? I find that difficult to believe.

K. Tyson, Mobile, AL

A lot of students are just lazy. A lot of these debts are due to irresponsible social lives and attempts by some students to belong to the UPPER/HAPPENING class. Let us not forget that the main reason for going to University is to get an education and not to party. The WAG culture which is slowly taking over this country has to be paid for; not everyone will have a footie boyfriend to pay their bills.

Douglas G., oxford, england

I deeply believe that prostitution is optional.

B.S.M., Washington, D.C., USA

£900 a week? As a recent graduate that is a hell of a lot of money. Also it is way beyond what is actually required to live even a modest, comfortable student life. No matter if 'daddy' pays your way or you are entirely self financed, that is a lot of money.
I also think there is a huge difference between, say, burlesque dancing and actually selling yourself for sex. The article leaves the impression that many girls are resorting to prostitution, when probably a large number of the students who were surveyed answered they may know some kind of dancer etc. I knew some of the latter and there was no question of selling themselves for sex. I think this article could be misleading.

Likewise there is no mention of guys. What do the guys do? Again i knew some friends at uni who acted as escorts, or 'decoration' at private parties. Do they not face the same challenges as girls?

Joe, Bristol, UK

C'mon - the survey asks students whether they have friends working in the sex industry - and Dr R believes the answers?
Anyone experienced in this kind of survey knows, firstly, that people don't tell the truth (about anything: TV habits, ketchup purchasing), secondly, about matters sexual they lie even more and, thirdly, students are even less reliable.
Very sloppy research, I believe.

Ken, Sydney, Australia

Remember the tune? 'Things can only get better...'

CM, Birmingham,

Great, young people are selling themselves into prostitution to get an education and then they graduate to find they would be doing well to earn £20k per year in a 'respectable' graduate job and meanwhile the average house costs £180k or 9 x times their income: what a wonderful future is being built for Generation Y!!

MB, Edinburgh,