New research from www.constructaquote.com has revealed that the average construction worker has not taken a holiday abroad for four years.
Following on from the news the government will be introducing a help-to-buy ISA for first-time buyers, the construction industry could soon be generating a surge in work and commissioned projects.
This much-needed potential boost has led a business insurance website in the UK to conduct a study into the financial security of construction workers in recent years, to look into the effects of the 2007 recession on the social lives of those working in the industry.
The team at www.constructaquote.com polled a total of 1,384 UK-based construction workers, all of whom were aged 28 and over, for the purposes of the study. Each participant had worked in the industry for at least ten years, across a variety of different trades, and had therefore experienced the effects of the recession on the construction industry at a personal level.
Participants were initially asked if they’d had to give up any luxuries or lifestyle choices as a result of the recession, with the vast majority (91%) agreeing that they had. When then asked to reveal the most commonly sacrificed aspects of their lives post-recession, the main answers given were as follows:
1. Holidays abroad- (74%)
2. Cars/vehicles- (51%)
3. Saving money (for mortgage/nest-eggs etc)- (37%)
4. Nights out/social lives- (32%)
5. Electronics (games/consoles/mobile phones etc)- (23%)
Wanting to delve a little further into these results, all participants were then quizzed on their holiday preferences. When asked how long ago they last took a holiday abroad, the average amount of time emerged as 4.5 years.
Participants who revealed to researchers that they had not been able to take a foreign holiday for 2 years or more were then asked to disclose the main reasons behind this, with the most common answers emerging as follows:
1. Lack of flexibility to take time off – (67%)
2. Can’t afford the cost of holidays and flights- (51%)
3. Recently started a family- (37%)
4. I prefer to take holidays in the UK- (16%)
5. I’m scared of flying – (4%)
When all construction workers were then asked if they are planning to book a holiday abroad during 2015, the majority of individuals (63%) stated that they were doing so.
Lyndon Wood, Creator and CEO of constructaquote.com, made the following comments regarding the findings of this research:
“The outcome that the recession had on the construction industry also had a huge impact on the lives of the thousands of skilled workers reliant on making sure regular paid jobs were coming in, particularly for the self-employed individuals who saw their income take a devastating dip as work dried up. Sacrificing such luxuries as holidays abroad and nights out with friends may not seem like much of a big deal so long as you can still make ends meet, but it is these occasions that give us something to look forward to throughout our working week. ”
He continued: “With the economy seemingly moving forward in the right direction, it appears as though construction workers are finally seeing the metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel and reinstating their annual holidays in the sunshine.”
