Female tradespeople numbers double in a decade

There are more than twice as many women working in trade professions including electricians, plumbers and construction workers in the UK than there were ten years ago.

Female plumber numbers have been found to be below average though.

According to new analysis from Direct Line for Business, there were an estimated 33,000 female tradespeople in 2019, more than double the 15,000 reported in 2009.

Over this time the total number of people working in construction, electrical and plumbing has risen by 5% to 743,000.

There are an estimated 1,000 female plumbers, accounting for 2% of all those in the trade.

While women currently account for just 4.4% of all overall tradespeople, this is considerably higher than the 2.1% representation a decade ago.

When broken down by industry, the majority of female tradespeople can be found in building, with 24,000 females employed in jobs including bricklayers, roofers and scaffolders and accounting for 5% of the total workforce.

Nandita Borkakoti, business manager for tradesperson, Direct Line for Business, said: “While jobs in construction have traditionally been dominated by men in the volumes employed, it is encouraging to see that this notion is being increasingly challenged, with around 33,000 women across the UK currently working as builders, electricians or plumbers.

“With around 34,000 more tradespeople in the UK now than a decade ago, we hope that the coming decade sees further inroads being made for women in trade businesses, as the focus shifts away from gender and towards ability and expertise. It is important for any new entrants to the industry to have the strongest foundation possible to start work, with an insurance policy that can be tailored so that they only pay for what they need to include a range of covers such as public liability, employers’ liability or for cover for their tools including when left in their work vehicle overnight.”

If the construction industry sees the same rate of growth as it has done since 2009, there could be as many as 51,000 female tradespeople by the end of the next decade, Direct Line added.

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