Sisters doin' it for themselves

When Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics sang about Sisters Doin' It For Themselves, she could well have been referring to the explosion of interest among women in the traditionally male pastime of DIY.

Better job prospects with decent salaries means women are living far more independently today than they did in previous generations. Many women are opting to pursue a career before getting married and starting a family. At the same time, the high rate of divorce in the UK has resulted in many women bringing up their children alone.

This has further resulted in a little reported social phenomenon: the growing number of women who are learning DIY skills to enable them to maintain their homes without calling in professional trades people.

A recent online poll on the DIY and home improvement website lets-do-diy.com asking whether men or women were better at DIY generated fierce debate in the website's forum. And the final result was surprisingly close: 52% to 48% in favour of men being more proficient at DIY.

Editor of lets-do-diy.com, Seb Mills, says: "The closeness of the poll's result strongly indicates more women than ever before are carrying out their own home improvements and maintenance."

Further evidence supporting this phenomenon can be found in the number of women only courses now available that teach a wide range of DIY skills. Courses are well established in London, Milton Keynes, Bradford, Northern Ireland and Crawley in Sussex, with more springing up all over the country.

Alternatively, for easy to follow step-by-step instructions on a comprehensive range of DIY projects log-on to lets-do-diy.com