Rise of the man-bag

New research by LV= has found that 13.8m British men (almost two-thirds) regularly carry ‘man-bags’, with total contents worth an estimated £4.4 billion.

Perhaps surprisingly, the individual contents of an average man-bag are worth over £60 more than those of a woman’s handbag, £319 compared with £255.

In total, a staggering £10 billion worth of items are carried around by British men and women as a matter of course, highlighting a huge potential insurance risk if possessions are not covered.

Andrew Beard, at LV= General Insurance said: “Man-bags have quickly become a mainstream accessory, helping men lug around their ever more valuable stash of gadgets and personal effects. British men and women now routinely carrying around more than £10 billion worth of possessions – not to mention the cost of the bags themselves and any cash carried – so failure to insure your bag and its contents away from home could prove a costly oversight.”

Men’s lust for technology seems to be a key driver in the growth of man-bags as such gadgets can be quite bulky. For example, more than four times as many men carry lap-tops compared with women (18% versus 4%), and three times as many men as women carry a PDA (9% versus 3%).

According to the survey the most popular items carried by both men and women are pens and mobile phones. However, only 49% of men carry their mobile in their bag compared with 90% of women, which suggests that men are more likely to carry their mobile phone in their pocket.

An i-pod or MP3 player is the fourth most popular item in man-bags but does not feature on the women’s top ten at all.

In terms of regional variations, men and women in the capital are the most likely to carry books (46%) and magazines (20%) in their bags, perhaps due to more commuting by public transport. Scarves (16%) and gloves (33%) are more likely to be found in bags in Scotland whilst carrying sunglasses is more prevalent in the South (39%), perhaps reflecting a North-South weather divide.

Further findings from the research on what men and women carry in their bags:

More men than women carry glossy magazines – 17% versus 11%;

Women are more likely to carry a filo-fax than a laptop or PDA device (neither of these technology items features in the women’s top ten carried items);

Twice as many women as men carry cigarettes – 22% versus 11%;
Almost half of both men and women (47%) spend less than £20 on their bag, indicating that high street bags are triumphing over their designer cousins;

57% of women spend less than £20 on their bag and only five % spend over £100;

More than half (54%) of those aged between 18 and 24 years old carry an i-Pod or MP3 player;

Unsurprisingly the over 55 year olds are the most likely age group to carry reading glasses;

Although the value of the average man-bag contents is greater than a woman’s bag, collectively the contents of women’s bags across Britain are worth over £1 billion more than the contents of all man-bags.

Andrew added: “Although most household insurance providers offer some personal possessions cover away from the home, people should check their policies to see whether they require additional cover for valuable items such as laptops, gadgets and even expensive pens. Finally, men and women should try to stay safe by not displaying the contents of their bags to thieves.”