UK Women in Trades 2026 — From 1.4% to 6.8% by Trade
Women now make up 6.8% of UK painters and decorators; 1.4% of UK gas engineers — gender gap by trade ranked
"Women now make up 6.8% of UK painters and 1.4% of UK gas engineers — a tilted but improving picture across every UK skilled trade we measure."
— TradeMatch UK Editorial Team
How this study was carried out
Combined ONS Labour Force Survey Q4 2025 SOC-2020 codes for trades with TradeMatch self-declared gender on 28,400 active trader profiles. Self-declaration is opt-in; non-declared profiles are excluded from the per-trade ratio. ONS-only and TradeMatch-only series are reconciled where possible.
Sample: ONS Labour Force Survey Q4 2025 + TradeMatch active-trader self-declared gender, 28,400 trader IDs
What this study found
- Painter / decorator is the most gender-balanced UK trade outside cleaning at 6.8% women — almost double the share five years ago
- Gas engineering is the least gender-balanced UK skilled trade at 1.4% women — though up 56% from the 0.9% baseline of 2020
- All major UK trades show year-over-year improvement in gender balance, but the absolute share remains very low
- Women-led UK trade businesses average 4.7-star ratings on TradeMatch vs the 4.5-star UK trade average — a measurable customer-satisfaction premium
ONS LFS Q4 2025 + TradeMatch self-declared, 28,400 active UK trader profiles
| Trade | % Women (2025) | % Women (2020) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painter / decorator | 6.8% | 4.2% | ↑ |
| Tiler | 4.9% | 3.1% | ↑ |
| Carpenter | 4.2% | 2.8% | ↑ |
| Cleaning (commercial) | 38.1% | 36.4% | ~ |
| Surveyor | 17.8% | 14.2% | ↑ |
| Plumber | 2.4% | 1.7% | ↑ |
| Electrician | 2.1% | 1.4% | ↑ |
| Builder (general) | 1.8% | 1.2% | ↑ |
| Bricklayer | 1.6% | 1.1% | ↑ |
| Roofer | 1.5% | 1.0% | ~ |
| Plasterer | 1.5% | 1.1% | ~ |
| Gas engineer | 1.4% | 0.9% | ↑ |
Why this matters
UK women-in-trades data has historically been hard to track at trade-category level because ONS Labour Force Survey aggregates skilled trades. The TradeMatch self-declared dataset combined with ONS at SOC-2020 level produces the most granular UK figure published to date. The picture is consistent: every major trade has moved upward in 5 years, but absolute numbers remain low. Apprenticeship intake under the Equality Act 2010 has accelerated the change, supported by industry initiatives (Women Into Construction, Stemettes, Electrical Industry Charity's "Powerful Women in Power"). Specialist re-skilling programmes for women re-entering the workforce in renewable trades (heat pump, solar, EV) report some of the strongest interest of any UK trade-training initiative.
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FAQ
Why is gas engineering the least balanced?
Historical apprenticeship intake combined with the trade's longer training-and-certification pathway (5-7 years to fully Gas Safe registered competent installer). Cohort effects show in the data — under-25 gas engineer intakes are now 3-4% women, vs 1.4% across the full age range.
What does the women-led 4.7-star average tell us?
Customer-rated satisfaction with women-led UK trade businesses sits ~0.2 stars above the average. Causes include better communication metrics on TradeMatch dashboards, smaller-scale operation focus on customer experience, and selection effects (women-led businesses tend to enter the trade later in career, with prior service-industry experience).
Are these figures comparable internationally?
UK women-in-trades figures roughly match the EU average (5-7% in skilled construction trades) and exceed Germany (3-5%) but lag Scandinavian countries (10-15% in Sweden / Denmark).
Is there a gender pay gap in UK trades?
Yes — though smaller than white-collar UK jobs. ONS reports a ~7% median gender pay gap in skilled UK construction trades, vs ~14% across the full UK economy. Self-employed sole-trader operations narrow the gap further (more transparent day-rate pricing).
Cite this study
Citation: TradeMatch UK (2026). UK Women in Trades 2026 — From 1.4% to 6.8% by Trade. Available at: https://www.tradematch.uk/data/female-tradespeople-uk-2026
Granular data and per-postcode breakdowns are available to UK media outlets on request to [email protected]. Released under CC-BY 4.0 — re-use freely with attribution.
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