IELTS Writing Task 2/ Essay Topics with sample answer.
IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample 255 - In the developed world, average life expectancy is increasing
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IELTS Writing Task 2/ IELTS Essay:
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
In the developed world, average life expectancy is increasing. What problems will this cause for individuals and society? Suggest some measures that could be taken to reduce the impact of ageing populations.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
You should write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer 1:
In the modern world, the expected life of an individual is gradually increasing. Many people think that the trend is a positive development, but it has caused some problems for many countries. The following essay will discuss the effect of this positive trend, and some of the ways that could be considered in addressing the problem.
It is a fact that average life expectancy of a single person has increased these days, due to the global improvement in the sector of economic, social politic, education and public health. Despite this positive development, the ageing population has caused some issues for governments. Firstly, as the number of senior people increase, the budget that governments must provide for the retirement fund and medical care automatically rise. Secondly, the growing number of senior people will be aligned with density problems. As the population of old people grow, the demand for the housing rise and consequently increase the price of properties, which would be a problem for the young people.
However, there are some steps that governments could consider to resolve the issue. One of the ways is that governments could extend retirement age standard. Many countries are having the standard pension age at the age of 55 years old, and they could extend the age into 60 or 65 years since their senior people are still in a healthy and prime condition. Therefore it would reduce governments’ social welfare budget for the retired people. Besides that, governments could also provide a subsidy for the young people when they plan to buy a house.
In conclusion, the world is developing rapidly in the last few years, and it has positively impacted on the average life expectancy. However, this positive trend has caused some problems for individuals and communities, therefore it is necessary for governments to take some actions in solving the issue.
[ Written by - Darwin Lesmana ]
Sample Answer 2:
Our ancestors didn't live more than 50-60 years. In the last centuries the life expectancy had been about 50-55 years and now it is 60-70 years in developed countries. In Norway for example, it is more than 80 years for women. The question is that "Is this it a gaining or draining for humans being to live longer?" The increase of life expectancy has two negative consequences. It affects a person’s experience of life in his/her last years, and it also is a burden on the society in several ways. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss both.
There are many factors that affect the length of our lives. Thanks to the scientific developments, medical achievements and increasing life quality in the last decades, life expectancy has raised from what it had been before. People are more concerned and informed about their health and we tend to seek help from doctors more than before. At the same time, access to medical help is easier than ever. Diseases are discovered and diagnosed more precisely and quickly and the treatments are more effective. Since elderly people are more frail and fragile, the incidence of diseases is higher among them. Hence, more resources like money and manpower should be used to keep older people on feet.
Furthermore, in my opinion, the rise of life expectancy is the quantitative measurement of life. Age is a number and it does not depict all the aspects of life. The quality of life is significantly reduced the older we become. Elderly people are usually struggling with both mental and physical problems and often they have a solitude and sorrowful life in the last years of their life. The life expectancy has increased quantitatively, but in my opinion not qualitatively enough! We should help people to live longer, and more importantly better.
To conclude, I believe that to live longer can be a gaining if we can help elderly to live a peaceful and valuable life as well. Of course, it will burden the society in several ways, but the society is nothing without the people in it.
[ Written by - Shahab Mehraban ]
Sample Answer 3:
Nowadays, humans' lifespan has significantly improved than before. This has made two major problems to people and communities, and I think two important solutions should be implemented to tackle them.
To begin with, longevity has enhanced the governmental budgets. Clearly, elders need more supervision by the state authorities, including retirement pension, healthcare expenses, or housing for those who cannot afford their rent; however, other age groups need a less fund. For example, the administration only has to expense on education for juveniles, and young are healthier than the former. To solve this issue, governments have to escalate their budget to improve seniors' quality of life via increasing taxes paid by properties or businesses. This means the more citizens and businesspersons pay higher taxes, the more they will earn benefits during their retirement age. In this way, had the government of BC obtained more taxes from the local inhabitants, it would have had more saving to raise old people's pensions.
In addition, ageing may worsen the condition of unemployment. Obviously, retired individuals may not afford their daily spending, and they have to work even they become over sixty-five years old. However, many of them cannot compete with other age groups, especially those youngsters seeking the same job. Ageing makes humans more disable physically, leading employers prefer to hire others; therefore, communities would face more jobless seniors. To address this problem, governments should assist these aged citizens by prioritising them in some appropriate careers. Definitely, this group of dwellers has a better experience in their profession they have been working, and the state authorities can use them in some appropriate situations. For instance, writers can be hired in the section of official press directed by the government. They have better capabilities to write articles or even publish the related journals in the regional newspapers.
In conclusion, humans' lifespan is growing, and I believe that it can incline both the state funds and job positions needed for elders. To resolve that the administration should increase the tax and improve the condition of employment for them.
[ Written by - Rambod Taghaodi ]
Sample Answer 4:
Development has brought numerous benefits to human society like high birth mortality, high life expectancy etc. At the same time, there are many new challenges which have cropped up as a side effect of the development. For example, the ageing population is developed countries has created an enormous financial burden. This essay would elaborate about few of the effects of the ageing population on developed societies and would also talk about few possible steps which can be taken to overcome these problems.
A country needs working masses to produce enough output to sustain its population. These younger generation working people are the backbone of the financial system and add to Gross Domestic Product, a benchmark of development index. In developed countries, it is argued that the population ratio is skewed towards older people who are adding least to the gross domestic output and hence creating a financial burden on working masses and to the governments. China was fastest growing economy till last decade when it had most of its population younger and hence in workable condition. With development, its population I older now due to various reasons including higher life expectancy. This has significantly brought down China's growth because there are fewer people to work in its factories. Hence, we can see clearly link the financial degradation occurring in developed and developing nations to its growing aged people.
But, as it is said, every problem has a solution, so has to this problem too. Governments should first try to attack the root cause directly by encouraging citizens to opt for more children. Tax rebates and other incentives should be given to families who have more than 3 children. This will solve the problem in near term. As an immediate solution, the laws should be tweaked to encourage immigration. Younger and productive people from developing countries would help elevate the gross domestic output immediately. These measures, as one can see, are increasingly being popular in the United States and Canada.
Therefore, while financial impact of the ageing population is huge but it can easily be overcome by taking certain measures like allowing foreign immigrants and encouraging high birth rate.
[ Written by - Ramanuj Sharma ]
Sample Answer 5:
With the improvement in medical treatment and better nutrition, the senior citizens are enjoying a longer lifespan in the industrialised countries. While this is good news, it does create some issues for both the individual and the society. This essay will present two possible scenarios and the solutions to alleviate their negative impacts.
On a personal level, living longer means you need to have more savings to spend in those extra years. It is common to see some old people go broke in their early retirement and become homeless on the street. For example, in my neighbourhood, I usually see a woman in her seventies dressed in very old and dirty clothes and wonder around the dumpsters looking for food. It is heartbreaking to see this. In order to reduce the likelihood of running out of money, I believe education on financial planning is the key. People should receive free training on how to sensibly contribute to their pension during working years, as well as how to invest safely and how to keep a certain proportion of savings as the safety net.
In terms of the pressure on society, with the increase of the elderly, more money and resources would be allocated to take care of them. More medical staff are needed and more old people's homes are to be built. On the other hand, the senior citizens can still contribute to the society if proper regulations are introduced. For instance, the government can welcome the healthy and energetic old people to re-enter the workforce and use their accumulated knowledge to add values to the companies. If old people prefer to stay with their families, they can also help with childcare and house chores.
To conclude, the rising life expectancy brings its own issues to the individual as well as to the society. However, effective measures can be taken to mitigate these issues and in the long run, the senior citizens should be treasured and encouraged to create more values for the community.
[ Written by - Lian Gu ]
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