We’re more likely to spend money on professionals to do common household jobs

Crowdstacker regularly undertakes research to examine investment and saving behaviour amongst UK adults.  Often the results throw up some surprising data which we sometimes use to create interesting and insightful news items.

In July this year we issued some research about the number of people paying professionals to do jobs that in generations gone by we might have undertaken ourselves. It got quite a reaction!

Our latest investment and savings research shows that the way we spend our downtime is changing.

The research focused on one key statistic about the number of younger people (those under 35 years old) who said they would call in an electrician to change their lightbulbs. One in ten said they would do this.  

In the older generation (45 years old plus) this figure was more like one in a hundred.  

The story was covered in the national press and there were plently of comments from those of all generations. Some felt that the media is being overly critical of the ‘millennial’ generation, whilst others feel that the younger generation is less resourceful than the older generations.

The purpose of the piece was to illustrate the way in which we live our lives is changing and evolving over time.

It might be of interest to know that the idea which sparked us to ask people about who changes their lightbulbs came from a discussion we had in the office about how annoying modern down lighter fittings are.  Several members of the team commented on how difficult it is to actually get at the lamps without pulling half the ceiling down with them.  So we weren’t surprised that so many of us have to call in professionals to change bulbs!

Spending money versus spending time: which are we more protective of?​

Another interesting element in the research looked at how people spend their time.  

The lines between work and play are increasingly blurring because of modern technology and the growth in home-working.  So it follows that we are perhaps also becoming more protective of our downtime and therefore more likely to not want to spend it doing DIY.

Play time now seems to really mean ‘play’.  Not chores.

Think before you spend: “Is it worth it?”

What we’re trying to point out is that protecting this downtime comes at a cost, and spending money instead of saving it should be a decision we take with the benefit of knowledge.

We’re all aware of the saying ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.’  Boring as it might be, this is completely true.  

So our purpose with the story was not to berate anyone who decides to spend their hard earned cash on getting professional help with DIY tasks.  Instead, it was to try and make us all think before we spend so we’re sure it’s worth it.  

Sometimes it’s fun to spend a Saturday repainting the ceiling. Honest.

(Research conducted amongst 2000 UK adults by Mortar Research in June 2018)