Fathers paying for handymen to avoid DIY

MIDDLE-CLASS fathers are increasingly using handymen to do their household chores according to a new study by a Yorkshire academic which reveals a big increase in the use of male domestic labour.

Research by Hull University and the London School of Economics has found the men now make up more than a third of the domestic workforce, up from less than a fifth in the 1990s.

The study says this increase has been fuelled in part by an influx of male Eastern European workers, although most are still UK born. In the UK, 16 per cent of domestic sector workers are foreign-born, compared to nine per cent in the early 1990s. In London, 57 per cent are foreign born, compared to 45 per cent in the early 1990s.

Researchers interviewed employers of handymen and found that while mothers tend to reduce their working hours to become more involved with their children, fathers are reluctant or unable to do this, so free up time at weekends by employing handymen to do “traditionally male chores such as DIY, minor repairs and gardening”.