Rich Countries are Getting Richer while Poor Countries are Getting Poorer- IELTS Writing Task 2

Rich countries are getting richer while poor countries are getting poorer. What are the causes of this? How can this problem be solved?

Outline

Essay Type

Cause & Solution essay

Introduction

Sentences 1&2 – Paraphrase the topic using synonyms to establish a base upon which you will elaborate.

Sentence 3 – Mention that the essay will understand the causes and solutions.

Body paragraphs

Paragraph 1 – Outline the causes of why there has been a tremendous wealth gap between rich and poor.

Paragraph 2 – Elucidate the solutions for this topic.

Conclusion

Summarise the essay and state your opinion.

Sample Essay

Economically developed countries indeed take advantage of developing countries. It is mainly due to the wage gap between countries and the domination of local markets. However, this problem could be at least partially solved with government intervention.

One factor that significantly influences the wealth gap between prosperous and impoverished countries is that workers in developing countries are paid poorly. Global corporations seek to minimise their labour costs. Therefore, they set up their branches in developing countries and only offer low-paid work, keeping the highly paid corporate jobs back in their home country. Consequently, they maximise their profits, while the citizens of developing countries suffer from this economic inequality. Another major cause of wealth inequality is the control of prices of goods. As multinational businesses produce products of high quality and make them cheaper than local businesses, they can set lower prices of goods, so local companies cannot compete or go out of business trying to do so.

Consequently, the way to address these problems would be for the government to introduce stricter tax legislation for foreign companies. As a result, global corporations would have their profit margins shrunk, and hence, they would be pushed to increase the price of their products, which would benefit local sellers. Whereas to resolve the wealth gap issue, the governments of developing countries must increase the minimum wage. If they did this, the global companies would have to raise wages, and workers of poverty-stricken countries would earn more.

In conclusion, poorly paid jobs and market control increase the gap between economically developed and developing countries. The situation will be remedied when governments increase the minimum wage and reform tax laws.

Vocabulary

• Wage

Meaning – a fixed, regular payment earned for work or services, typically paid on a daily or weekly basis.
Example – Most wage claims are settled by compromise through arbitration.

• Domination

Meaning – the exercise of power or influence over someone or something, or the state of being so controlled.
Example – Most companies struggle to maintain their domination in the marketplace.

• Intervention

Meaning – interference by a state in another’s affairs.
Example – The government’s intervention in the dispute between the two states might help.

• Prosperous

Meaning – successful in material terms; flourishing financially.
Example – The country was on the verge of becoming prosperous and successful.

• Impoverished

Meaning – (of a person or area) made poor.
Example – Excessive farming had impoverished the soil.

• Corporate

Meaning – relating to a large company or group.
Example – The company is moving its corporate headquarters from Mumbai to Bangalore.

• Compete

Meaning – strive to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others.
Example – The company must reduce costs to compete effectively in the marketplace among the competitors.

• Legislation

Meaning – laws, considered collectively.
Example – He gave his consent to the proposed legislation held in the company’s general meeting.

• Shrunk

Meaning – become or make smaller in size or amount.
Example – Television, in a sense, has shrunk the world.

• Remedied

Meaning – set right (an undesirable situation).
Example – The sexual harassment case against the senior partner could easily be remedied if the authorities were willing.