Workers have been bitching about how it’s so much slower compared to before, since I started in sex work twenty-five years ago. Oh, the mythical before! Those monied days of yore! But yes, really, making money from sex work in 2026 is rough.
The abysmal economy is drying up the pool of clients who tighten their belts as job losses hit. Simultaneously, poor economic conditions are bringing in endless flows of new workers who are otherwise struggling and looking to make good fucking (or dancing, or spanking, or camming) dollars. Even though this work definitely isn’t for everyone, the idea of fast, “easy” money is appealing. We all know that sex work income is NEVER easy, but you can’t tell ‘em; they have to learn for themselves.
We all know the economy tanked in 2008. If you weren’t doing sex work in ‘08, you probably know it best from the depiction in the 2019 Lorene Scafaria based-on-a-true-story film Hustlers. In Hustlers—set before, during, and after the 2008 financial crisis—the crash turns the heady days at New York’s strip clubs into a wasteland of empty tip rails. To combat this, a band of strippers turned to drugging and robbing their clients to make bank. I guess that’s one way to do it.
Or maybe you were sex working in 2020 when COVID-19 hit, the world (and economy) went into absolutely uncharted territory, and every whore and midnight ballerina worth their Pleasers joined OnlyFans to make up the shortfall.
I was working then, and the dungeon I sessioned out of closed down for eight months straight, leaving me with zero income. I am not photogenic and am extremely awkward on camera, so I didn’t pivot to making content; I’m only good in person. I chose unemployment, but I was in one of the countries where the government introduced what was essentially a temporary Universal Basic Income in all but name, so I didn’t starve or get evicted. Not everyone was so fortunate.
Point is, we know when the economy starts looking grim; our income takes a big hit. Sex workers are often the first to know; and as Adrie Rose explains in her article of the same name, they don’t call it the “stripper index” for nothing:
Observing the spending patterns of clients in certain industries, particularly those considered discretionary or luxury sectors, can offer clues about the state of the economy. While the concept of the stripper index or using spending patterns of sex worker clients as an economic indicator is more of an anecdotal or observational theory rather than a widely recognized economic principle, it holds up to consistent scrutiny…
Since the economic crash of 2008, the world has changed drastically. Trump happened. The FOSTA/SESTA amendment was signed into law. COVID happened (and is in fact still happening!) Trump happened again. Inflation due to corporate greed is at an all-time high. Layoffs are happening all over the place. AI is ramping up and stripping white-collar workers of their jobs (even though AI’s capability in this arena has been vastly overestimated.) Power bills are skyrocketing due to data centres. The US-Israel War against Iran, which is blocking the vital Strait of Hormuz—a SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) chokepoint for oil and fertiliser transit—is forecast to bring not only higher prices for anything that requires transportation using fuel or growing with fertiliser, but may even lead to food shortages as early as next year. On top of it all, climate change looms over everything, threatening the economy and our way of life in ways we can’t even imagine. Shit’s looking bleak.
Sex workers’ services are a luxury item. Clients can go without, if they have to. Currently, huge swathes of the population are either becoming more conservative with how they spend their money, or they just don’t have any money to spare after paying inflated rents, inflated food prices, and inflated fuel costs. Simultaneously, these same factors are bringing more workers into the industry. It’s a perfect storm for slowness. So when I see so many sex workers posting on various socials about how slow it is now, it’s so hard not to put on my doomer hat and drop this gloom into the comments. People don’t want to hear it. I understand—I wish I didn’t have to live with it in my head either.
But babes, it’s slow. Denying it and ignoring it isn’t going to change that fact. And I’m afraid to say that it might not get better any time soon. I’ve been paying attention to sex work trends, the economy, and current events for over a quarter of a century (fuck me, I’m old), and things are really changing right now. The economy is wild, and it’s only going to get wilder because of the polycrisis we are living in. Not only are there innumerable worldwide factors to contend with, if you’re otherwise marginalised—POC, disabled, fat, poor, old, etc.—then odds are stacked against you even higher.
Babes, it’s slow. Denying it and ignoring it isn’t going to change that fact.
So what can I offer you anything besides my bleak explanation? I honestly don’t know if I can say anything that swathes of workers haven’t thought of before. You can try to diversify your income streams. Can you offer different services? Maybe try advertising FBSM as well as Escort services, or offering online content if you don’t already. Some workers advertise a different persona with different rates and styles of service. Do you have time for or access to a civvie job for the benefit of a regular paycheck? If so, you can use it to supplement your sex work income. Can you tour to different areas to see what business is like there? I’ve heard a lot of sex workers are freestyling right now, could a shift to that mode of finding clients help? Maybe you can offer some basic fetishes if you haven’t before, or ask a BDSM practitioner pal or peer to upskill you in some more advanced kink techniques for trade. Do you have a side hustle you can monetize?
I hate giving this advice. You’ve heard it all before. It fucking sucks that we live under a brutal capitalist system that forces us to trade our ass, our labour, and our precious, precious time on this earth for the ‘privilege’ of a place to live and food for our families. These things should be human rights; there is more than enough to go around, to feed and house every person in the world, but the system we are forced to participate in doesn’t distribute it fairly. It’s bullshit. Unfortunately, I don’t get to make the rules (even though I should), and we all have to live within this inequitable and unfair economy.
There is more than enough to go around, to feed and house every person in the world, but the system we are forced to participate in doesn’t distribute it fairly.
Aside from hustling, my best advice for surviving the current economic freefall is to invest in your community. Get involved in mutual aid networks. Not only does this help other people, but mutual aid includes you too. When you’re flush, you can help your peers, and when you’re not, they can help you out.
And there are so many more ways we can help each other besides financially. Everyone has special talents, and you never know when someone else might need what you can offer, and have something that you need or could use in return. Get to know your neighbours and share your help, your skills, shit from your garden. Join a tool library, learn to DIY repairs, and share that knowledge with your neighbours. Help your peers with childcare to ease the expense of that essential service. Offer your overgrown backyard for the neighbourhood to grow veggies in. I don't know, just start doing something to create a better system for us all to live within. Things will never change if we don’t change them.
When we realise that the economy is never going back to what it used to be, we can finally begin the work to build something new. And then maybe our sex work income won’t be as essential. Things are changing, and we need to find new ways to survive. Sex workers are fucking excellent at surviving: history proves it. We can lead the way.
For more on sex work and the economy, take a look at The Stripper Index: Sex Workers and the Gift of Prophecy and Tips For Sex Workers in a Slump.
Are you a sex worker with a story, opinion, news, or tips to share? We'd love to hear from you!
We started the tryst.link sex worker blog to help amplify those who aren't handed the mic and bring attention to the issues ya'll care about the most. Got a tale to tell? 👇☂️✨
