People are deciding to have children at a later age than in the past.

Practice this IELTS Writing Task 2 question on IELTSX. People are deciding to have children at a later age than in the past.

People Deciding Have Children Later Age Advantages Disadvantages - IELTS Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Why? Do advantages outweigh disadvantages?

Write at least 250 words.

A student's answer to this task, and the feedback on it

Written by an IELTSX user under exam conditions and published unedited and anonymously. Band 7 ยท 322 words.

People are deciding to have children at a later age than in the past.

People have different views on whether having children later in life is a positive or negative trend. Although some people believe it has several benefits, others argue that it creates serious problems. This essay will discuss both sides and explain why I believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

There are several reasons why many people are choosing to become parents at an older age. One major reason is that people want to focus on their education and careers before starting a family. By doing so, they can achieve financial stability and provide a better standard of living for their future children. Another important reason is that many couples prefer to wait until they find the right partner and build a strong relationship. As a result, they feel more emotionally prepared for the responsibilities of parenthood.

There are several advantages to this trend. The main benefit is that older parents are usually more financially secure, allowing them to afford better education, healthcare, and living conditions for their children. Furthermore, they tend to be more mature and patient, which helps them make wiser parenting decisions. For example, parents with stable jobs are often able to spend more quality time and resources on their children's development.

However, there are also some disadvantages. One significant drawback is that the chances of health complications for both mothers and babies increase with age. In addition, older parents may have less energy to keep up with the physical demands of raising young children. Finally, there is a greater possibility that parents may not be able to support their children for as many years as younger parents can.

In conclusion, although delaying parenthood can lead to certain health and physical challenges, I believe the benefits are greater. Financial security, emotional maturity, and stronger family relationships make older parents better prepared to raise happy and successful children.

Examiner feedback

The essay successfully addresses all parts of the prompt with a clear position and well-developed arguments. It exhibits strong command over grammar, punctuation, and cohesive devices, though there is a minor overlap in content between the reasons for the trend and its advantages.

Task Response - 7

- Addresses all parts of the task by discussing both advantages and disadvantages along with personal opinion. - Presents a clear position throughout with a well-reasoned conclusion. - Ideas are extended and supported, though reasons and advantages overlap slightly in content.

Coherence & Cohesion - 7

- Logically organizes information with a clear progression throughout the essay. - Uses a range of cohesive devices appropriately (e.g., 'Furthermore', 'However', 'In conclusion'). - Presents a clear central topic within each paragraph.

Lexical Resource - 7

- Uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow flexibility and precision. - Incorporates less common lexical items (e.g., 'financial stability', 'health complications', 'emotional maturity'). - Demonstrates good control of word choice and spelling with virtually no errors.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 7

- Uses a variety of complex sentence structures effectively. - Produces frequent error-free sentences with strong grammatical control. - Punctuation is accurate and aids readability.

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