Women do more DIY today than in previous generations, study claims

Youtube tutorials, which did not exist in previous years, also help

More women these days take on DIY jobs ((AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews))

Modern women are adept at a string of DIY tasks, which their mothers may not have tackled, according to research.

A poll of 2,000 women found 57 per cent of those aged 18 to 30 are happy to change a lightbulb by themselves, while six in 10 have painted an entire room in the last three years.

Today’s women are also more than happy to paint cupboard doors when needed, hang pictures and mow the lawn.

By contrast, their own mothers are far less likely to have tried the same tasks, while their grandmothers would certainly have left these ‘blue jobs’ to the man of the house.

The research was conducted by Yale, in conjunction with their ‘Spring into Action’ campaign which offers tips and advice for those wanting to make a change to their homes during the peak DIY season.

Yale spokesperson Stephen Roberts said: “Looking at the stats between the age groups, it is clear to see women today are far more hands-on than their mothers and grandmothers ever were.

“And although not all women feel one hundred per cent comfortable tackling skilled DIY tasks, they are far more likely to give it a go than previous generations.

“Surprisingly, many younger women don’t remember their grandmothers even going as far as unclogging a toilet or planting a tree.”

The study found almost half of today’s women are happy to assemble furniture, compared to just 28 per cent of their mothers, and seven per cent of their grandmothers.

Four in 10 young females are comfortable hanging blinds or curtains, in contrast to just 13 per cent of grandparents.

And while replacing door knobs is easy for a third of ladies today, only 23 per cent of their mothers and eight per cent of grandmothers would have given the same job a try.

The only areas of DIY where previous generations excel are hanging wallpapers, fixing wallpaper seams – possibly due to the trend in painted walls these days - and changing a fuse.

The OnePoll study indicated that while women are proficient at a host of DIY tasks, fitting an alarm to the house is not one of them.

Just one in 10 women claim this is a task they’d feel comfortable doing, with just 12 per cent of women accepting responsibility for their own home’s security.

Roberts added: “The findings regarding home security came as somewhat of a shock – particularly as women are willing and able to tackle numerous other jobs around the home.

“For some reason home security is still considered to be a blue job, and yet fitting security products is easier than ever thanks to wireless systems and app-controlled technology.”

Researchers also found 53 per cent of those polled are confident tackling DIY tasks around the home – and only six per cent would avoid the DIY altogether.

Just one in 10 women of today agree that some DIY jobs are for men and some are for women – believing tasks such as fixing a toilet, fitting an alarm and re-tiling a roof should be taken on by the man of the house.

Six in 10 believe choosing curtains should be a job firmly left to women, while 50 per cent prefer to be the ones to pick the carpets and the same percentage think ladies should be in charge of planting flowers in the garden.

Women of today feel more able to take on DIY projects than generations before them as there are more online guides to help (47 per cent) and there are YouTube tutorials which didn’t exist years ago (45 per cent).

One fifth feel they have more people they can ask for help these days, and 23 per cent have grown up doing jobs for themselves.

But they believe for previous generations, it was always assumed DIY was a man’s job (44 per cent) and 27 per cent lacked the skill set required.

DIY TASKS 18-30s (%) mothers (%) grandmothers (%)

Changing a light bulb 57, 45, 17

Painting a room 57, 46, 17

Painting a cupboard door 55, 40, 15

Hanging a picture 57, 39, 16

Mowing the lawn 47, 39, 14

Assembling flat pack furniture 48, 28, 7

Planting a tree 42, 35, 15

Varnishing a fence 36, 31, 11

Tightening a cabinet knob 35, 26, 9

Unclog a toilet 34, 28, 11

Hanging blinds or curtains 38, 34, 13

Replacing a doorknob 31, 23, 8

Changing a fuse 20, 22, 8

Patching a hole in a wall 28, 19, 7

Putting up a shelf 32, 21, 7

Changing a plug 15, 21, 8

Unstick a drawer 22, 20, 8

Hanging wallpaper 22, 30, 11

Fixing a wallpaper seam 14, 21, 8

Fitting an alarm 10, 7, 3

SWN