UK Window Cleaners Statistically A Hit With Under 35's

The research found that one in four households have a window cleaner and nearly a fifth – 17per cent - employ gardeners.

Return of the cleaner: One if three families now pays for domestic help: A third of households hire domestic help and the trend is driven by under-35s. An influx of migrants from other EU states has created a pool of cheap workers. Twice as many people under 35 have a cleaner compared to older people.

As a result, it is not just the well-heeled who can pay others to do the hoovering and ironing or tidy the garden, according to the study by insurers esure. A spokesman said: ‘The idea of having regular help coming to your home is something that is traditionally associated with the well-to-do but it is becoming more mainstream. ‘In fact one in four of those on modest household incomes – earning up to £20,000 per year – now hire regular help.’ 

Researchers found that twice as many people under the age of 35 have a cleaner compared to older people – 16 per cent versus 9 per cent. While this may appear to be laziness, it could simply be that young adults and parents are working long hours to fund life’s essentials. Across the nation, working long hours and a busy social life are given as the main motivation for hiring a cleaner. While one in three simply say it is just easier to use a professional to do chores properly.

A quarter of young adults said they would rather do other things with their free time than dust and vacuum, and a further one in four find the work too boring to do themselves. The research found that one in four households have a window cleaner and nearly a fifth – 17 per cent - employ gardeners. One in 20 households hire handymen for simple jobs. Interestingly, a higher proportion of men rather than women brought in an expert - 6 per cent versus 4 per cent.

Other studies suggest today’s young men have never learned basic DIY skills and simply would not know where to start on changing a tap washer or putting up a shelf. Generation Y are forking out the most for their hired help with the under 35s spending an average of £204 last month compared to the average of £127. Despite the significant sums of money being handed over, the majority of people – 87per cent – do it on a ‘cash in hand’ basis.

Esure said people bringing in strangers to work around their home are not being as careful as they should. Fewer than one in four check references and four in five do not have a formal written contract. The study suggests the total sum paid for help around the home adds up to £26billion a year. 

Window Cleaning is a Colossal 'Pane' for Home-Owners

Owning a house is a lot of work. And at our place, the chores are pretty well divided along traditional male/female lines. Think June and Ward Cleaver. It breaks down like this - Joy cooks, does the laundry, ironing and all the house cleaning. Most of the outdoor work is my baby - cut grass, trim hedges, blow snow, sort our waste into the gazillion containers that all good little Northumberland County recyclers use. We think it's a decent enough arrangement. But specialization has drawbacks. If one of us were to suddenly skedaddle off this mortal coil, the long-term survival of the remaining member of our dynamic duo would be a dicey proposition.
Case in point: I haven't a clue how the oven, dishwasher or washing machine work. Maybe I could find the manuals, but failing that I'd starve to death in my own filth within weeks. As for Joy, the snow blower, riding mower and string trimmer are alien concepts as complicated and mysterious as the Phoenix Mars Lander. She might last a little longer than me, but would soon be smothered in a tangle of weeds or buried alive in snow drifts up to the eaves. However rigid our roles may appear, there are some household duties that don't fall neatly into either of our portfolios.
Window cleaning is one of them. Man job or woman job? Hard to say. But I got it and I'm not sure how. It's no small task either. By actual count, we have 26 windows that require my attention every spring and fall. And it's not just about glass. These new-fangled vinyl windows never need painting and they do tilt neatly inwards eliminating the need to risk my life on a quivering ladder as I attempt to reach the uppermost windows. That's all good. But vinyl windows (at least mine) have more channels, nooks and crannies that collect dirt and bug carcasses that are almost impossible to remove even with a Q-tip or pipe cleaner. It's one hell of a job. As for the glass, there has to be a better way. No matter how long or hard I spray, wipe, shine and polish, the windows that looked so pristine when I finished the job reveal themselves to be nothing more than a collection of smears, streaks and smudges the moment the sun hits them.
Oh, I've read all the articles and all the trade secrets. Don't clean on a sunny day. One side horizontal, the other vertical. Polish with a crumpled newspaper. Use a squeegee. Wash from the top down. I have news for you - those tips don't work. None of them. And it's damned frustrating. I know it's not nice to hate, but I hate this job and what it does to me. But Joy refuses to take it off my hands. I've tried all the inducements I can. I'll cook dinner for a week... if she shows me how to use the stove. I'll do the laundry for a month... if she teaches me how to turn on the washing machine. I've even offered to do the grocery shopping, but Joy guards her turf like a pit bull. There's nothing I can offer to persuade her to even share this job with me. "It's something we could do together," I plea. "It would bring us closer to each other," I whimper. But she's a hard, hard woman.
I'm at my wit's end. I'm desperate. Maybe you have a secret that really works, not all the lies I've got off the Internet. I need a real solution. So if you have one, maybe I'll cook your dinner for a month. I might even do your shopping. It's all negotiable.