In recent years, the family structure and the role of its members are gradually changing. What kinds of changes can occur? Do you think these changes are positive and negative?
Sample Response
It is true that these days the family structure has changed considerablyhas considerably shifted, and the roles of men and women in the family have increasingly convergedthe changing roles of men and women in the family have become increasingly similar. There are several new forms of family composition, and in my opinion, these developments are not always desirable.
In the past, nuclear families where parents and their offspring living together under one roof used to be prevalent. However, there is now a stronghuge trend towards single-parent families due to more marriages ending in divorce, while the increase in households formed by cohabiting couplescohabiting couple families and stepfamilies is probably a result of cohabitation and remarriage becoming much more acceptable. In addition, the number of single-mother families has increased as many mothers want to have children without getting married. In terms of changing parental roles in a family, there has been a rise in the number of stay-at-home dads in recent years as it has become more commonin recent years when it has become normal for women to gain qualifications and pursue their own career paths. This is in sharp contrast to several decades agoabout half a decade ago when men were breadwinners and women were in charge of household chores in their families.
In my view, the changes described above could have both positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, due to weaker emotional attachment and fewer legal tiesthe lack of emotional attachment and legal binding, non-traditional households such as stepfamilies and cohabiting parents are more prone to breaking down. Consequently, children inof these families are more likely to engage in antisocial behaviourbe involved in antisocial behaviours while their parents may experience feelings of loneliness and worry. On the other hand, the changes in the roles of family membersthe roles of members of the family could be seen as progress because women are not put under pressure to sacrifice their own careers to assume childcare and domestic responsibilities.
In conclusion, I believe that the changes in the roles of family members and the family structure are both positive and negative because of the aforementioned reasons.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response is strongest in its clear organization and relevant identification of changes in both family composition and parental roles. Its main limitation is that the evaluation relies on broad, sometimes insufficiently qualified claims, while the overall position remains somewhat general. The highest-priority improvement is to develop the consequences more carefully with precise reasoning and explicitly state the writer's overall judgment about the balance of positive and negative effects.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response addresses both family changes and their positive and negative effects, but some consequences are generalized and the overall evaluation is not fully sharpened.
Qualify the claims about non-traditional households and state a more explicit overall judgment after weighing the contrasting effects.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay follows a logical four-paragraph progression, though the long paragraph cataloguing changes is comparatively dense and unevenly developed.
Group the different structural and role changes more selectively so each paragraph advances one fully developed central idea.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and often appropriately specific, but several collocations, including legal binding and huge trend, sound unnatural.
Prioritize natural collocations such as legal commitment and growing trend when expressing otherwise sophisticated ideas.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a good range of complex structures, with occasional errors in clause formation and tense control that do not impede meaning.
Check relative and time clauses carefully, especially constructions such as families where parents and offspring living and recent-years comparisons.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In recent years, the family structure and the role of its members are gradually changing. What kinds of changes can occur? Do you think these changes are positive and negative?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.