An increasing number of mothers are taking up jobs as phone sex operators to support their families and increase their income during the economic crisis, a new study has revealed.
According to ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’, the number of mothers with young children who have become telephone temptresses over the last 18 months has shot up about 400 per cent.
The data comes from ratracerebellion.com, a website dedicated to helping mothers find jobs that allow them to work from home, the New York Daily reported.
Chris Durst, who runs the online organization, has been following the working habits of mothers for more than a decade.
She said that the number of women who search for phone-sex work usually spikes after Labor Day, as their children return to school. But in the past two years, the level of interest in phone-sex employment has been astonishing - and Durst blames it on the economy.
“Most sound a little embarrassed,” Durst said.
“They say, ‘I’ve tried everything. It’s come to the point where I’m on food stamps. We can’t make the rent and are facing foreclosure. This is the fastest way for me to get back on my feet again.”
Running a phone-sex business gives mothers flexibility, and the benefit of choosing their own hours and staying home to be closer to their kids. Still, many of the mothers confessed that working as a PSO, short for phone-sex operator, was never what they had in mind.
“This is nothing I’d ever thought I’d be doing - ever,” said a 22-year-old mother and PSO named Aubrey.
“I’ve applied to probably 20 or 30 jobs, at like Wal-Mart or Subway or a fast-food place.”
“I just haven’t gotten picked up in my area,” she added.
Most operators earn around 10 to 50 dollars per hour, but the take-home can be much greater.
“I make more money per hour that way than I would at another job,” said Lynn, a PSO and mother of three.
“I’ve made over 1,000 dollars in the course of a day,” she added.