IELTS Writing Actual Test (March 5th, 2016) – Topic: Family

Courtney Miller

5 min read

Updated On Oct 18, 2021

Outline
Sample Essay
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In recent years, the family structure and the role of its members are gradually changing. What kinds of changes can occur? Do you think these changes are positive and negative?

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Outline

Essay type

Direct question

Introduction

Paraphrase the topic of the essay.
Clearly mention what could be expected from the essay.

Body

Paragraph 1- In the past, nuclear families where parents and their offspring living together under one roof used to be prevalent. However, there is now a huge trend towards single-parent families due to more marriages ending in divorce, while the increase in cohabiting couple families and stepfamilies is probably a result of cohabitation and remarriage becoming much more acceptable.
In terms of changing parental roles in a family, there has been a rise in the number of stay-at-home dads in recent years when it has become normal for women to gain qualifications and pursue their own career paths.
Paragraph 2- n my view, the changes described above could have both positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, due to the lack of emotional attachment and legal binding, non-traditional households such as stepfamilies and cohabiting parents are more prone to breaking down.
The changes in the roles of members of the family could be seen as progress because women are not put under pressure to sacrifice their own careers to assume childcare and domestic responsibilities.

Conclusion

Discuss the inference made from the essay and conclude it.

Sample Essay

It is true that these days the family structure has considerably shifted, and the changing roles of men and women in the family have become increasingly similar. There are several new forms of family composition, and in my opinion, these developments are not always desirable.

In the past, nuclear families where parents and their offspring living together under one roof used to be prevalent. However, there is now a huge trend towards single-parent families due to more marriages ending in divorce, while the increase in cohabiting couple families and stepfamilies is probably a result of cohabitation and remarriage becoming much more acceptable. In addition, the number of single-mother families has increased as many mothers want to have children without getting married. In terms of changing parental roles in a family, there has been a rise in the number of stay-at-home dads in recent years when it has become normal for women to gain qualifications and pursue their own career paths. This is in sharp contrast to about half a decade ago when men were breadwinners and women were in charge of household chores in their families.

In my view, the changes described above could have both positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, due to the lack of emotional attachment and legal binding, non-traditional households such as stepfamilies and cohabiting parents are more prone to breaking down. Consequently, children of these families are more likely to be involved in antisocial behaviours while their parents may experience feelings of loneliness and worry. On the other hand, the changes in the roles of members of the family could be seen as progress because women are not put under pressure to sacrifice their own careers to assume childcare and domestic responsibilities.

In conclusion, I believe that the changes in the roles of family members and the family structure are both positive and negative because of the aforementioned reasons.

Band 9 Sample Essay

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A lot of new trends and reformation in the society has occurred owing to the wake of modernisation and restructuring of our society in the last decade. One among those changes is the modification of the family framework and the members’ responsibilities that have incurred a significant change that has its own merits and demerits. In the subsequent paragraphs, such changes and their impacts shall be discussed.

The family skeletal base in recent times has gone through some vigorous changes. The prime change that it has brought about is the way the gender norms and roles have been reshuffled and juggled substantially. For instance, women are no more seen in the confinements of the kitchen or managing the household solely as often as it was prior, therefore, the dependency and alignment of the income-fuel of household is no more a sole role of the men of the family. Moreover, paradoxically so, the cases of homemaker men and employed women are not unheard of in today’s times. In addition to that, the trend and fad of partners not necessarily tied in nuptial knots and yet bearing a family, too, have garnered a lot of attention in modern times. Similarly, single parenting has been rife in recent times as a denouement to the independent youth that doesn’t seek the conformity and assertion of society.

However, if we ponder upon the effectual nuances of such changes, there are both negative as well as positive consequences of it. The first calamitous impact that the ways of family execution have brought about, is the vitriol and rancour that the children are brought up with due to the family issues and belligerence of the partners, which were somehow lesser in the conservative setup of earlier times. Institutions of marriages, which were otherwise seen having a strong belief in a couple of years ago, have started stuttering and hence parting ways are also commonly witnessed. The accelerating heights of divorces and annulment of the marriages are yet again a deterrent to the sensitive and innocent minds and persona of the children brought up in a scathing household. However, there are certain benefits too in the terms of the plight of women in the earlier societal gradation. Women are much more liberated and emancipated today in the terms of taking their own decision as to how they prefer driving through their lives and hence have given the importance of gender equality. On the individual basis as well, the inclination and dependence over the societal judgements and flawed set of rulebooks, have started receding and shrinking, thereby, imparting the freedom to people to live on their terms.

Conclusively, thus it could be said that the revamping of family and household structures has caused an upheaval in the ways of living of the people today and has its own merits and downsides.

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