413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Rates, Expenses, and Spending
Those who worked in the 1970s and 1980s described their sex work as profitable. Sex workers were in
high demand and johns spent substantial amounts of money for services. In the words of an individual
who traded sex in Washington, DC in the 1980s, “Guys were spending hundreds of dollars for ten
minutes” (L2).
Prices for street-based sex work were typically service-based. 71 Based on information derived from the
study respondents, oral sex cost between $50 to $100 and sex cost between $60 to $300 during the 1970s
and 1980s. According to these individuals, special requests, such as fulfilling sexual fetishes or engaging
in sex without a condom, were additional costs stacked on top of base rates for sex acts. Some explained
that johns would pay $20 or $40 extra for sex without a condom (J8), while others stated that johns paid
twice as much for this type of request (M4). The use of additional charges for extra requests on dates has
persisted over time.
Rates also varied by location of the dates—a trend that has also remained true over time. One 43-year-old
sex worker described the difference in pricing between working in a motel versus in a car: “If you went to
a motel, if you had a place to go, [that] would cost more. In a car, it would be about $75–100 [per date]. A
motel was $150–200 [per date]” (L5).
Sex workers frequently negotiated these rates with johns, adjusting rates based on what a particular john
requested and could afford. As one individual who worked in Washington, DC stated, “The price range
was $50 at the lowest, and then it was about $100 to $300 for different [requests] … It depends on what
was requested. The price range would go up or down depending on what the person [the john] had … We
negotiated. I wouldn’t accept anything under $50 back then [in the 1980s]” (L4). This type of bargaining
over prices for street-based sex work has continued over time and across cities; as one sex worker, who
had been working the street since the 1970s, explained, “One thing I learned first was never quote a price;
it was about what you’re willing to accept and what they [the johns] offer (L3).
Although profits varied by day of the week, with weekends typically being more profitable than weekdays
(a trend that remained true over time), these individuals made hundreds if not thousands of dollars per
day during this time period. As one individual who began working in the 1980s put it, “In the beginning,
when it was good, I was making anywhere from $50 to $100 a date … Depending on my attitude—some
days I wouldn’t be up to it and would stay home—but I could make $900 a day.” (L8). As another
explained, “Back then [in the 1980s], I used to go home with so much money … This is why I got caught
up with prostitution. $300–400 a night, always” (L1).
Many sex workers indicated that trading sex provided them with enough money to support themselves
during these years. They spent their earnings on everyday items including food, clothing, rent, their
families and children, as well as on entertainment, nightlife, and costs associated with trading sex,
including hotel and motel rooms. One sex worker from Denver provided her mother with $2,000 to
$3,000 to care for her children on a regular basis. (J5). As another respondent stated, the money was
“fast.” “That’s the thing,” this 53-year-old Denver-based sex worker explained, “we spent so much money,
on clothes too. It was nothing to spend $50” (J6).
The going rates and earnings of sex work, the conditions of the street-based sex market, and the dates
themselves started to change substantially in the mid-1980s and 1990s with the onset of widespread crack
cocaine use. Growing crack addictions made it difficult for individuals to pay for basic needs. In fact,
many respondents differentiated between their spending habits before and after they developed
dependencies on crack. For example, a Washington, DC-based sex worker noted, “Before crack cocaine, I
spent money primarily on my lover who was working … two jobs, [and who] would give both paychecks to
me. At that time, I was taking care of the bills, doing a lot of shopping. I made sure he had everything he
needed” (L2). After her drug addiction grew, her main expense became crack. Sex workers’ substance use
and dependencies is the focus of the next section.
71 As will be discussed below, pricing schemes for sex work solicited online tend to be time based.
226