Women taking greater role in home improvement activities

Home improvement is traditionally dominated by the concept of a handy-man, not a handy-ma'am.

However, a recent national study commissioned by Ace Hardware Corporation indicates that women today are taking on a bigger role and greater responsibility when it comes to home improvements. No longer are women content to merely create or manage to-do lists. According to the "America's To-Do List" study of 1,000 American homeowners, 62 percent of respondents said that women are at least partially responsible for physically tackling home repairs and improvement projects.

In this country, single women are the second-largest segment of homebuyers behind married couples. They comprise 15 percent of annual homebuyers, vs. 7 percent for single men, according to a 2002 National Association of Realtors' biennial survey.

This is due both to the increasing buying power of women and to the breakdown of many financial barriers that once kept single women from buying homes, according to the study.

The Ace study found women to be determined and more likely than men to accomplish in a timely manner what they set out to do.

While more than half of those surveyed admitted to procrastinating at times, there is a greater likelihood that the tasks will get done when a woman is involved in managing projects. With a man as project manager, some type of avoidance is more likely.

"Women, by nature, are more likely to ask for help or hire someone if they don't know how to get something done," said Erickson.

Activities of interest

There are a wide variety of activities in which women expressed interest. However, the No. 1 home improvement task was greater organization (65 percent).

Following that, women were interested in improving the yard (64 percent), painting and other decorating tasks (55 percent), hanging pictures or art (54 percent) and tackling more technical tasks, such as changing a faucet or showerhead (34 percent).

"America's To-Do List" study, conducted by an independent research firm for Ace Hardware, surveyed by telephone a national probability sample of 1,000 adults living in private households in the continental United States.