IELTS WRITING TASK 2 CHILDREN

PLEASE EVALUATE MY ESSAY AND GIVE A BAND SCORE. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

People nowadays tend to have children at older ages. What are the reasons for this trend? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

A growing trend that can be seen in the contemporary society involves young couples delaying their decisions to have children until later in their life. While some factors explain this shift, I believe that its demerits are of greater value than its merits.

The first reason attributable for this trend is the increasingly competitive labour market, leading to young people postponing parenthood to prepare better for child-rearing. In an ever-changing market , employees, especially fresh graduates , have to devote a substantial part of their time working to achieve a certain level of job security. Meanwhile, parenting involves an entirely new level of responsibility in both financial and emotional terms. Though the experience can be joyful, raising a child is most of the time stressful and the additional burdens can put a heavy strain on a person’s marriage, occupation and social relationships. As a result, couples nowadays are likely to defer having children until they lay a sound foundation for their careers and have enough experience.

From my perspective, this trend can exert negative impacts on individuals as well society. The first issue associated with this shift is the potential threats to the health of women and their children. Many researches have revealed that old women stand a higher chance of having acute problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure and even fetal malformations during pregnancy. If women give birth at an ideal age (25 to 35 years old), the risks can be kept to a minimum. Furthermore, having children later in life may widen the gap between two generations, making it harder for parents to communicate with their offspring.

In conclusion, while the competitiveness in the labour market is a driving force to prompt this trend, I believe that it may have far-reaching consequences on the society.