Survey: 1 In 5 Adults In The UK Can’t Change A Lightbulb, Boil An Egg

I wish I were surprised, but 20% of people in the UK can't change a light bulb, boil an egg and only 37% know how to change a flat tire.

LONDON — Are you handy enough that if a lightbulb went out in your home you’d be able to change it? Believe it or not, one in five people aren’t so skilled. In fact, a new survey of people in the United Kingdom finds not only do about 20 percent of people not know how to change a bulb — the same number aren’t sure how to boil an egg, either.

www.studyfinds.org...


A list of how far gone that people have gotten.

Cook a complete meal without using a recipe 69%
Read a map 66%
Sew on a button 65%
Unblock a sink 62%
Remove a stain from a carpet or clothing 59%
Change a baby’s nappy 57%
Wire a plug 57%
‘Bleed’ a radiator 53%
Check oil levels in a car 53%
Put up a shelf 47%
Put up wallpaper 39%
Change a flat tyre 37%
Change a washer on a tap 30%
Fit tiles 22%

British insurance co Aviva found only 59% of people could get a stain out of their clothes of out of carpet, this was part of an annual survey on how people handle tasks at home.

The British insurance company Aviva recently released their annual Home Report
In addition to just one in five not being able to change a lightbulb or boil an egg, the survey found that nearly a third of the participants couldn’t cook any meal on the fly. And if someone were to spill a portion of their meal on their clothes or on the floor, only 59 percent would know how to get rid of the resulting stain.

Only 37 percent could change a flat tire

How about balance a checkbook?

If accurate, this is very depressing.

Good news for Polak's the world over.

Time to dust off all those old Polak jokes...

How many Brit's does it take to change a lightbulb?
Etc.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
How about balance a checkbook?

If accurate, this is very depressing.

Did you mean chequebook? LOL

I haven't seen one of those in Years. Haven't had one in decades.

Lol it's probably true.. Lucky for me i can do all of those things on that list and more.

It's not just the UK it's the same all over the world, some people are born smart others are taught the rest ether don't care or don't have the capacity to learn.

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

This Polak came home one day from work, hung up his coat, took off his hat and walked into his bedroom shouting, "Honey ... I'm home!"

When what should he see, but his best friend in bed with his wife.

Infuriated, he rushed to the cupboard, pulled out his gun and put it to his head. His wife started laughing.

"Don't laugh!" he screams. "You're next!"

I am a handyman. Ones I changed plug fuse on tele and i charged £45.

originally posted by: Snarl

originally posted by: Bluntone22
How about balance a checkbook?

If accurate, this is very depressing.

Did you mean chequebook? LOL

I haven't seen one of those in Years. Haven't had one in decades.

Language barrier dammit!
Trunk not boot..
Hood not bonnet..
Go eat your bangers & mash...

Sorry, had to.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein

i dont think thats very accurate, theres a certain type of person takes surveys.

have you ever taken a survey? no, because youre busy and theyre stupid.

hence surveys reveal the minds of stupid people with nothing else to do.
they are not average people.

When I was young, the standard charges levelled by older men against "young people today" were things like
"They don't even know how to change a fuse" (relating to the mystique of using fuse-wire to deal with domestic "blown fuses")
"They don't even know how to light a fire" (relating to the mystique of building a coal fire in a domestic fireplace).
In fact I've never needed to do either of those things, because trip switches and central heating were in place by the time I had a home of my own.
I've often wondered what the modern equivalents would be.
I'm sure that "young people today" won't have learned to re-wire an electric plug, for one thing, because all their electrical devices will come with plugs already attached.

a reply to: Rikku

Sounds like we need a survey to see who is surveyed.

originally posted by: seasonal
*snip*

A list of how far gone that people have gotten.

Cook a complete meal without using a recipe 69%
Read a map 66%
Sew on a button 65%
Unblock a sink 62%
Remove a stain from a carpet or clothing 59%
Change a baby’s nappy 57%
Wire a plug 57%
‘Bleed’ a radiator 53%
Check oil levels in a car 53%
Put up a shelf 47%
Put up wallpaper 39%
Change a flat tyre 37%
Change a washer on a tap 30%
Fit tiles 22%

*snip*

Wow, that's beyond pathetic!! A few of these, I can understand. Wiring, wallpaper, tile, or draining a radiator aren't things everyone will know how to do. Some, though, should be!! Any adult should be able to handle a simple meal. Sewing on a button, the same, but I laugh, because I have family members who can't, and yes, have tried to teach them!! Changing a diaper isn't difficult. Sheesh, I have even used the old-style cloth ones, complete with diaper pins, and rubber pants! Checking the oil and other fluids, and changing tire, should be part of owning a car! These are not exactly tough mechanical tasks. As for the light bulb, good grief!! If someone can't do that, they deserve to sit in the dark. Boiling an egg??? That's as simple a kitchen task as I can imagine. Wow, just wow.

If TSHTF, a lot of people are in real trouble!!

originally posted by: DBCowboy
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein

I'm fine with all of those except the diaper.

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

You and I are on the same page there.

This is the percentage of people dying in the first wave after the Apocalypse.

originally posted by: Rikku
i dont think thats very accurate, theres a certain type of person takes surveys.

have you ever taken a survey? no, because youre busy and theyre stupid.

hence surveys reveal the minds of stupid people with nothing else to do.
they are not average people.

Truth

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

If shtf the ones who know how to do these things are in trouble. The idiots will come out in force.

Being a skilled tradesman almost all of my "professional" career, I think there are a bunch of people who have never had to learn. When you are forced to think, it makes you-wait for it----smarter.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

If shtf the ones who know how to do these things are in trouble. The idiots will come out in force.

Being a skilled tradesman almost all of my "professional" career, I think there are a bunch of people who have never had to learn. When you are forced to think, it makes you-wait for it----smarter.

It does, but I would rather spend my time on the learning curve staying ahead of the idiots instead of learning how to boil eggs and change tires.

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

If TSHTF, a lot of people are in real trouble!!

If the Big Fan gets hit, most people are doomed. I bet even less know how to build a fire, purify water, stay warm and dry.

You know who's going to survive the next SHTF epoch?

Shopping cart pushers.

originally posted by: intrptr


You know who's going to survive the next SHTF epoch?

Shopping cart pushers.

Whatchu talkin' 'bout, intrptr?

Usually the only way these people get by is on handouts. Without civilization, the only survivors are those who know how to live off the land and get their knuckles into a dead carcass.

Shopping cart pushers do not live off the land; they scavenge over the discard of society.