IELTS Writing Task 2/ Essay Topics with sample answer.

IELTS Essay Sample 1118 - People decide to have children later in their life

IELTS Writing Task 2/ IELTS Essay:

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Nowadays, more and more people decide to have children later in their life. What do you think are the reasons for this? Do the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages?

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: (Advantages outweigh the disadvantages)
These days many couples decide to have babies at least a few years later since their marriage. I believe career, social changes, escalating living expenses, and increased life expectancy are some of the major reasons behind this trend. In my belief advantages of having children later in life outweigh its demerits.

To commence with, a growing number of people, including women, are now serious about their career development. This is perhaps the primary reason they do not expect to have children in the early stage of their marriage. It is intuitively obvious that with huge competition, unemployment and economic crisis, people around the world are constantly worried about their careers and salary. As a result, many decide to postpone their first childbirth. Secondly, women empowerment and social changes have altered the old way of life where a woman's sole responsibility was to look after the children. Since many wives are working these days, they decide to take babies after they reach a certain position in their career.

Furthermore, social belief regarding giving birth to children has changed dramatically, and people are more concerned about the living expenses than the number of babies they have, unlike in the past. Finally, enhanced life expectancy has also contributed to this trend as people believe they can wait a little longer to have their first baby.

Undeniably, people who choose to concentrate on their career first and then have babies can take better care of their children due to ample career and economic freedom. Having offspring early in life can escalate the expenditures and financial responsibilities of parents. Moreover, if they do not spend enough time with children, they grow up with psychological issues. Thus,  by having early children, young parents might put their careers at a risk as well as the future of their children. Reversely, having offspring in early life have few advantages. Such parents have new members in their family and their isolation would be extirpated and they will become more family-oriented.

In conclusion, despite the pleasure of having a new baby in the early years of marriage, parents who decide to have babies later can focus on their career, fulfil financial goals and have sufficient time to spend with the family.

[Written by - Faisal ]



Model Answer 2: (Drawbacks outweigh the advantages)
With paradigm shifts in social beliefs and people's fascination with careers, they tend to become parents at a later stage. Several reasons are responsible for this, and I believe that it has more negative consequences.

To begin with, the average year when people get married those days has increased significantly. As a result, childbirth is naturally delayed. According to a recent survey, many young people who start their career after their graduation are more focused on their jobs than having their own family. Besides, many young people are undecided whether to marry or not. Eventually, when they get married, many of them are already in their mid-thirties, and they take some time to settle and have some financial stability before having their first child. Furthermore, the old belief that a girl should manage a family and have children earlier have changed, and more wives work in offices than ever. The decline of the joint family has also contributed to this trend as couples solely decide to have a baby, unlike in the past.

If we notice the severe detrimental impacts this trend has, we would surely try to reverse it. The most cynical outcome of this trend is the number of couples who struggles to become parents. It is scientifically proved that the infertility rate among couples is higher who try to become pregnant after their mid-thirties. Some of the couples eventually break up their marriages due to this, and it brings unfathomable social problems. Furthermore, having a child in the early years of marriage make the couple more family-oriented and this eventually help them have a better future.

To conclude, late marriage, nuclear family structure, and more focus on jobs are the main reasons people become parents at a later stage in their lives. I think this trend has more adverse results than its positive outcome. So it is expected that married people would carefully consider different negative and positive aspects of having babies later in their life.

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Zahin Azmaeen
In modern society, people tend to postpone their parenthood until the late 30s or even early 40s. This essay shall deal with the reasons for this phenomenon and outline the effects this has on families and societies.

Many factors could be responsible for this trend. The most important reason is that in today’s era of cutthroat competition, young people have to focus on their jobs and therefore have little time for their families. What is more, women today have become more career oriented and do not wish to be held back by family responsibilitie s. Obviously, under such circumstances, committing to a serious relationship or starting a family, which means tremendous responsibility and dedication, is not a preferable choice for many. The increasing cost of raising a child is another barrier to parenthood, and this is especially obvious in major cities around the world.

This change of lifestyle can have some negative effects on the society as a whole. Firstly, low birth rates can result in an ageing population and a lack of labour force in the future. A greying society is a dependent society and is somewhat of a burden on the shoulder of the government. Medical care services can be in high demand, and medical costs can rise significantly due to this.

The families too can not escape the brunt of such a situation. The most disturbing effect is that the chances of congenital anomalies rise significantly if a woman bears her first child after the age of 40. Families with mentally or physically challenged children can never be happy families. Another effect can be that the age gap between parents and children is higher, so the chances of a generation gap are strong.

Summing up, there are many reasons which are responsible for people marrying late and having babies late in life, and this definitely is detrimental to societies and families. Therefore, young people should learn to give importance to both, a career and a family life.

Mohammad Rafi Amin
Nowadays, more and more people decide to have children later in their life. What do you think are the reasons for this?

Do the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages?

Nowadays, having babies at least a few years later after getting married has become very common among couples, and there could be many reasons behind this trend, such as career preparation, social changes, escalating living expenses, and increased life expectancy. Of course, this attitude has more advantages than disadvantages for families and society.

To begin with, as the labour market has become very competitive, and unlike in the past women are now encouraged to study and work, having a great career has become the biggest concern for many people. So couples have become very busy and they avoid having a child in the earlier years of their marriage for a stable career. Furthermore, we are witnessing changes in social beliefs regarding having children as early as possible. Another factor that has caused this trend could be the soaring living expenses which make young couples think twice before deciding to have a baby early. Finally, people's increased life expectancy often make them think that they can have babies later in their life.

This has led to many advantages despite having a few demerits. Among the advantages, the female mortality rate at childbirth has been reduced dramatically all over the world. Besides, modern children receive better food, care, medical attention and education because their parents get ready for proper parenting before having a baby. However, as a downside, due to deciding to have a baby at a later stage in life, many parents can not conceive a baby. This leads to frustration, depression and apathy about life.

In conclusion, factors like career, financial security, social change and better life expectancy have helped a married couple take babies a few years later after their marriage and this trend has more positive outcomes than minor negative ones.

Yamuna
Nowadays, more and more people decide to have children later in their life. What do you think are the reasons for this? Do the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.


It is true that many people are attracted to better professional life. It, directly and indirectly, affects their personal life and choice of parenthood. So such people decide to begin their family life later in their life and have babies in their thirties. It has many pros and cons. I personally believe that it has more benefits than disadvantages.

To begin with, nowadays many people are career-oriented and they want to be well educated and have better financial status in society. So people are focusing on higher education and good positions in good organizations. So they spend most of the time on those things rather than starting a family or having babies. So many of them are having children after the '30s. Thus they do not have to sacrifice their personal interests and career prospect. They can fully enjoy themselves without any responsibilitie s. If you have a baby at an early age, you need to sacrifice lots of things to raise the kid. First and foremost personal time. For instance, my aunt wants to be a government officer. So she decided to have children after getting a government job. So she chooses to be a mother in her mid-thirties.

On the other hand, if people want to start a family later in their life, it may cause many different health-related issues, especially for females. The best age to start a family is in the mid-twenties - according to many because it gives people time to concentrate both on career and family. Many successful people in our society have both successful careers and good family life despite their starting family at an early age.

To conclude, the family and babies come with big responsibilitie s. So people should first focus on their professional and personal life rather than deciding to become parents at an early stage.

Darwin Lesmana
People who decide to have children later in life is increasing rapidly these days. There are various reasons why they do it and the following essay will discuss some benefits and drawbacks of it. I personally think that the trend has more advantages than drawbacks. For a number of reasons, a large number of people decide to have children in the later stage of their life nowadays. Firstly, many people realize that upbringing children is not an easy task these days and they want to settle before becoming parents. Secondly, many people prioritise studying and obtaining a degree from a reputable university rather than getting married at an early stage. Lastly, more people realize that the cost of raising a child is skyrocketing and taking care of their children requires a good deal of their time. Therefore they prefer to have children when they are ready and financially stable. One of the positive sides of having children in the later stage is that both parents get matured and know more about parenting. They are more prepared in terms of physical and mental health and therefore they are expected to be wiser in raising their children. Another positive point is that they are settled in terms of career and money, therefore they could provide better facilities for their children. However, the negative sides of having children in the later stage is the health issue. Based on some research, it is found out that the success rate of normal delivery among young women is higher than the aged women. Finally, having a baby at a later stage does not ensure better parenting in all cases. In conclusion, it is true that more people prefer to have children later in life because they chose to focus on their education and career first. Having children in the later stage has a greater health risk, and I personally believe that it is better to have babies in late twenties or in early thirties.