Fred wrote in message
Opinions much appreciated. I will learn some more diy when I have a
moment, but I am always amazed that a reasonably qualified plumber in
a good market should basically earn triple the salary of a nurse or a
midwife.

Simply market forces at work, some years ago my thick son-in-law was earning
£400 a day working as a contractor in I.T. now he's out of a job,
but now you cant get a decent tradesman for any price.
Do Schools/collage's now teach any practical skills? Nope but they're still
turning out the computer literate.