Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2011, in the middle of Spain’s economic crisis. The trends described (more ads, lower prices, new profiles of women entering the trade) are from that time, and the method relies on print newspaper contact sections.
Five years ago I met a businessman who analyzed the economy of cities in a rather unusual way. He would stop at a bar and open the newspaper to the contacts section. Depending on the number of ads, or pages, devoted to this kind of business, he would decide whether or not to open a branch in that city.
Obviously it wasn’t quite that simple, as he made a full study of the subject: the prices charged, a comparison with the previous year and statistics for the last five years, and even the number of hostess bars in the city, how many had closed and how many had opened. According to this businessman, it’s a very effective technique, because it’s completely accurate when comparing the economies of two provinces.
“Right now the number of ads has grown, although the price of the services has fallen. An increase in prostitution is a good sign, as long as prices hold. A drop in the number of ads is never a good sign, whatever the price. If the ads increase, prices fall and non-professional women start working in the trade, it’s a sign that the economic situation is dire, deplorable and worrying.”
Through the contacts pages, and even the job pages, we can see job offers that show how bad the economic situation is, and even what many people are forced to do to get through the crisis.
Domestic help available… or whatever comes up.
This kind of ad has grown considerably, and a recent study even shows that the age range of the Spanish women who have been forced into the world’s oldest profession has widened at both ends.
“Never before have we seen so many 19-year-old Spanish girls, or so many women over 50, selling their bodies.”
In the case of young women, these days they usually turn to this way of earning money to pay for their studies: they go to study in another province and, once they finish their degree, go back to start a new life in their home city.
In the case of women over 50, the profile tends to be more varied. There are women who separated a few years ago and whose ex-husband, having lost his job, can’t pay child support. Others do it to help their children, who have run up debts, and many do it to pay off their own debts.
And let’s not forget a much more common profile: the woman who got used to living beyond her means and, when the crisis arrived, couldn’t keep it up and doesn’t want to give up those whims or luxuries either.
So, going back to this businessman’s market research, if we use prostitution as an economic indicator, we can clearly see that the economy is… well, as we all know. Even so, despite the poor figures in the prostitution business, the people who work in it say it is still one of the most profitable businesses, at least for earning enough money to get through the crisis without financial hardship, always with the idea of leaving the profession once things settle down. For many of these women, it is a temporary job.
Some organizations and women’s associations warn, especially the young women who plan to leave the profession within four or five years (the length of a degree), not only about the usual dangers that already come with this profession, but also that the internet never forgets, and your past can turn up when you least expect it, even 2,000 kilometers away.
We still believe that when finding a job gets difficult, the best thing is to try to start your own business and help create jobs (at least your own).
Further reading
- Business ideas to get started this year
- Donald Trump: the mindset of an entrepreneur
- The 10 Chinese commandments for entrepreneurs
- How to start a business with no money
Featured image: Dimitry B., CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
