If old people are no longer physically, mentally, or financially able to look after themselves, younger family members should be legally responsible for supporting them.

Practice this IELTS Writing Task 2 question on IELTSX. If old people are no longer physically, mentally, or financially able to look after themselves, younger family members should be legally responsible for supporting them.

Younger family members legally responsible for supporting elderly relatives - IELTS Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

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 · 441 words.

As life expectancy increases due to advanced healthcare and technologies, more elderly people require long term medical care. Some people believe that the younger generation should be obligated to look after older members who can no longer physically, mentally and financially support themselves as it can strengthen family bonds and reduce pressure from public finances. However, others including myself believe that obligating young people to look after the older generation may impose a financial burden on them and overlook government’s role in society.

Proponents of the idea that young people need to take care of older members of their family believe that by doing so the family dynamics and bonds might improve. As parents sacrifice their time, money and spend a substantial amount of resources on their children helping them when parents grow older, it's just a reciprocation of this life long commitment when parents are needed the most. What’s more, by helping the older members of the family may strengthen family bonds, sometimes older people may share the wisdom that was gained throughout their life. Equally importantly, it is just intergenerational solidarity supporting emotionally and financially older members as they are part of the family. Additionally, as life expectancy increases putting additional burden on pension schemes, healthcare systems,as a result the government can not fund essential services such as schools or infrastructure.

As plausible and compelling as these arguments are, I still believe that legally obligating the younger generation to take care of older individuals can put them into financial strain. Due to the high cost of living especially in urban areas where accommodations are costly or high rate of unemployment rate may jeopardize the financial security of individuals and negatively influence the overall quality of life. Moreover, there is a case where people were raised in a dysfunctional or abusive environment, requiring them to take care of older people may negatively influence their mental well being, triggering the trauma they had or making them more anxious. Furthermore, is that older people usually need the medical expertise, as most of them may suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, whereby the government can provide comprehensive support to older individuals. If the government is reluctant to help older people, many people in society would lose trust in the government and may be unwilling to work and contribute to the society.

In conclusion, although I acknowledge that helping older family members is essential and reciprocate the kindness and sacrifice they made, or it can strengthen family relationships, I still stand for the idea that it can be financially hard to support older people and in most cases the government needs to provide support.

Examiner feedback

The essay effectively addresses the prompt by discussing both sides of the argument and maintaining a clear personal stance against legal obligation. It demonstrates a strong command of cohesion, vocabulary, and grammatical structures, resulting in a solid Band 7 performance.

Task Response - 7

- Addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout. - Extends and supports main ideas well, covering both perspectives before establishing the writer's own view. - Arguments are relevant and well-supported with logical explanations.

Coherence & Cohesion - 7

- Logically organises information with a clear progression throughout the essay. - Uses a range of cohesive devices appropriately, though some transitions are slightly mechanical. - Presents a clear central topic within each paragraph with effective paragraphing.

Lexical Resource - 7

- Uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow flexibility and precision (e.g., intergenerational solidarity, pension schemes). - Incorporates less common lexical items with appropriate awareness of style. - Occasional awkward phrasing and minor word choice errors do not significantly impact the reading experience.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 7

- Uses a variety of complex structures with frequent error-free sentences. - Good overall control of grammar, though minor punctuation errors and run-on structures occur. - Errors are rare and do not impede communication.

Related prompts

Start Practice