It is sometimes possible to pay somebody to do things you don't want to do, or don't have time to do, for example, household chores or looking after children. Is this a good way of providing work for others? Should people do these things themselves?
Sample Response
In today's fast-paced worldtoday's modern and fast-paced world, hiring others to perform tasks such as household chorestasks like household chores or childcare has become increasingly common. This practice provides employment opportunities for many while enabling individuals to focus on othermore important aspects of their lives. I firmly believe that paying others to handle time-consuming responsibilities is beneficial, both in terms of creating jobs and improving work-life balance.
Hiring people for household work contributes significantly to job creationemployment generation, particularly for individuals with limited formal education or limited access to decent jobslimited formal education and access to decent jobs. Many domestic workers, childcare providers, and cleaners rely on such jobs as their primary source of income. By paying for these services, wealthier households help sustain a sector that offers livelihoods to millions worldwide. For instance, in countries such as the UK and the UScountries like the UK and the US, domestic work is a major industry that supports migrant workers and local employees alike.
Delegating household responsibilities allows people to focus on their careers, familiesfamily, and personal well-being. Many professionals work long hours, and handling domestic duties in additionon top of that can lead to stress and exhaustion. Hiring a cleaner or babysitter ensures that individuals can allocate more time to their families or personal growth. For example, busy parents can spend quality time with their children rather than being overwhelmed by chores, leading to stronger family bonds. Moreover, outsourcing routine tasks enables people to pursue hobbies, education, or personal interests. Instead of spending hours on laundry and cleaning, individuals can engage in activities that enrich their lives, such as exercisingfitness, learning new skills, or socializing. This, in turn, enhances overall happiness and productivity.
In conclusion, hiring others for household work provides employment and allows individuals to focus on higher priorities. As long as fair wages and working conditions are ensured, this practice is beneficial for both employers and employees.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The essay answers both questions decisively, showing how paid domestic work creates livelihoods and allows households to protect time, well-being, family relationships, and personal growth. Its strongest feature is the sustained, well-supported reasoning, reinforced by relevant examples and a fair-wages qualification. The main limitation is slight imbalance because the possible value of doing some tasks oneself is not explored; prioritise briefly addressing that counterpoint to deepen the judgment.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both questions are fully addressed through a clear position, well-developed reasoning, relevant examples, and an appropriate qualification about fair employment conditions.
Acknowledge briefly that people may choose to do some chores themselves for cost, responsibility, or family reasons, then explain why outsourcing remains beneficial overall.
Coherence and Cohesion
Focused paragraphs, clear topic sentences, and natural progression create a cohesive argument from job creation to household benefits and conclusion.
Split the long third paragraph between family and well-being benefits and personal development to make the hierarchy even sharper.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is broad, precise, and natural across employment, domestic work, well-being, and productivity, with minimal repetition.
For further refinement, vary repeated forms of 'individuals' and 'people' where a more specific noun such as 'professionals', 'parents', or 'households' fits.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is used accurately and flexibly, with only rare minor imperfections.
Maintain this control while tightening occasional long sentences so each example and consequence remains maximally concise.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
It is sometimes possible to pay somebody to do things you don't want to do, or don't have time to do, for example, household chores or looking after children. Is this a good way of providing work for others? Should people do these things themselves?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.