FOI reference: FOI-2025-2589
You asked
FOI reference: FOI-2025-2589
I would like to have data on the number of women who are recorded as working in trades of the Construction Industry.
If this can be broken down by the following trade types that would be ideal, but if not an overall figure for women in trades would work:
- Plumber
- Electrician
- Carpenter
- Decorator
- Bricklayer
- Ground worker
- Plasterer
- Engineers
- Site Manager
I would like to have this data shown per year for the last 10 years, broken down by county in England, Scotland & Wales.
We said
Thank you for your query regarding women working in different trade occupations.
The Office for National Statistics produces estimates of the number of people, broken down by sex and geography, working in different occupations from the Annual Population Survey, a survey of people resident in households in the UK.
People in the survey are classified to occupations in line with the Standard Occupational Classification 2020 (SOC2020), with earlier data classified in line with previous iterations of this classification, SOC2010 and SOC2000. Under SOC2020, many of the trades you have identified are available as separate classifications.
We produce breakdowns by sex and occupation from the survey quarterly on a 12-month rolling basis, with the most recent data covering the 12-month period October 2023 to September 2024. This data is available on our Nomis website, which allows you to explore the dataset over time and the different geographies.
Unfortunately, for many of the individual occupations you have identified, the estimate for the number of women is suppressed, due to the small numbers involved, even at the UK level. Our Statistical Disclosure Controls do not allow the publication of this information, as there is a very high risk that individuals can be identified. Owing to this risk, we are also unable to produce this information in response to your FOI. This is because it is an offence under Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) for us to disclose information held by our organisation for statistical purposes that would identify an individual or a body corporate. As we are prohibited by law from publishing statistics in which individuals can be identified, Section 44(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.