In construction women account for:

• approximately 10% of those employed in the construction industry
• 30% of all non-manual employment 
• 1% of all manual employment
• 11.6% of all professionals and managers in the construction industry
• 20% of undergraduates of construction related degree courses
• 2% of all sole traders
• 7% of entrepreneurs running micro-enterprises employing less than 10
• 81% of those working in secretarial and trades

In England, very few women (approximately 13,000) work in manual occupations in the construction sector.  Manual occupations are the most gender imbalanced in the UK economy.  Because of changes in working practices (e.g.  office staff increasingly undertake their own clerical work and administration), the number of traditionally female occupations, like secretarial, clerical and administrative jobs, are decreasing. 
London and the South East have the highest number of women employed in the sector. 

Male : female ratio 89:11

CITB-ConstructionSkills measures the number of people entering construction training on an annual basis.  In 2004/05, the overall proportion of male trainees was 97% compared with 3% female.  The proportion of female trainees has remained between 3% or 4% since 1999/2000.

Female trainees were more numerous in technical qualifications (662), accounting for 48% of the total number of female trainees in 2004/2005.  However, females are just as likely to be found on painting and decorating courses compared to other occupations. 

Source:  Sector Skills Agreement for Construction – England 2005, CITB-ConstructionSkills Trainee Numbers Survey 2004/2005 and data provided by ConstructionSkills 2005

 
Source: Working Futures 2006, figure 3.8.1. Based on CE/IER estimates.

For more information on women in construction and numbers of female trainees see:

3% of the construction workforce is non-white compared to 7% of the resident population aged 18-80 years.  The highest occurrence of the non-white construction workforce is in London (11%).

In construction, ethnic minorities represent:

• 2.8% of those employed in the construction industry
• 3.6% of all non-manual occupations
• 2.6% of all manual occupations
• 3.2% of all professionals and managers in the construction industry
• 10% of all those enrolling on a construction related degree course
• 2.3% of all sole traders
• 2.9% of entrepreneurs running micro-enterprises employing less than 10

The increasing use of migrant workers in construction in particular areas of the UK has become a significant feature of the labour force, though evidence is still largely anecdotal.  Available evidence relates only to legal migrant workers - though illegal migrant workers are clearly an issue.  A recent survey by the Construction Confederation (2004) suggested that 1 in 10 builders are migrants.  Some of the industry’s skills needs are expected to be met by immigrant labour, especially craft operatives from Eastern Europe.

The CITB-ConstructionSkills 2004/05 survey of trainees reveals that the number of first year trainees from an ethnic minority is the highest proportion (6%) since data has been collected on this issue.  Ethnic minority trainees were more numerous in wood trades (683), accounting for 24% of the total number of ethnic minority trainees in 2004/5 (2,658).  They are also more likely to be found on painting and decorating courses.

Source:  Sector Skills Agreement for Construction – England 2005, CITB-ConstructionSkills Trainee Numbers Survey 2004/2005 and IFF Research Ltd. with University of Warwick 2005

The age profile of the construction industry has undergone significant changes over the past 10 years.  Currently, it has an age profile that is biased towards the 30-44 age bracket, compared with the UK working population as a whole.  The workforce across the regions has a similar age profile.  London has the smallest proportion of the workforce aged 16-19 years.  Across all regions, a low proportion of the workforce is 16-19 years in the non-manual and professional occupations. 

There has been a sharp decline in younger employees and a corresponding rise in those aged 45 and over.  Although there have been increases in younger and older age groups, this will probably not address the ageing workforce, since a loss of 30% of the workforce through retirement is expected over the next 20 years.  For manual workers there has been an increase in the share of 16-24 age group but a decrease in the 25-29 age group.  There has also been a significant decline in the non-manuals 16-19 age group.

The CITB-ConstructionSkills 2004/05 survey of trainees provides a breakdown of first year trainees by age and level of qualification.  Younger trainees dominate in Level 1 qualifications, as would be expected.  Level 2 and 3 have a 40/60 split in favour of older trainees, while Technical occupations have the highest proportion of adults.  Overall, there are slightly more trainees aged 18 and over and this trend seems set to continue.

Source:  Sector Skills Agreement for Construction – England 2005, data provided by CITB-ConstrutionSkills 2005 and CITB-ConstructionSkills Trainee Numbers Survey 2004/2005

Source: Skills Needs Analysis for the Construction Industry 2004, p.55-56. Based on Labour Force Survey.