People decide to have children later in their life

IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic:

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

Band 8.5 Model Essay 1:

In modern society, there has been a major concern that many couples have delayed parenthood. Some explanations for this social trend will be put forward before an analysis of its impacts on society and family life is given.

A few reasons can be given to justify the trend of giving birth at later stages of life. First, the labour market is increasingly competitive, and it is a norm that young parents defer having children to devote the whole time in the first years of their employment to lay a sound foundation for their future career. Second, it is believed that children are raised better by older parents. This seems valid since older fathers and mothers are generally wealthier, more experienced, and more willing to take the responsibility of bringing up a child.

The trend exerts both advantageous and disadvantageous influence on society and families. On the one hand, children born to more prosperous and experienced parents can receive a better and more comprehensive education, and thus contribute more to society when they grow up. In each household, the parents may also reap the benefits of this trend, as their first working years are not interrupted by pregnancy and childcare. On the other hand, when an aged couple decides to give birth, there are serious health risks for the woman in the prenatal and postnatal period. If any complicated maternal health problem arises, the life whole family would be turned upside down.

To conclude, the tendency to have children at later ages is caused by a number of factors, such as the competitiveness of the job market for young adults, and both the positive and negative impacts of it can be seen in families and society.

Band 8.0 Model Essay 2:

Having babies later in life is regarded as a new trend of marriage, especially in these days when soon becoming adolescent parents might face plenty of troubles. It is easily seen that the financial burden is one of the reasons why many spouses tend to delay their childbirth because giving birth early forces them to tighten the budget. In this essay, I will lend more other detailed reasons and effects of this trend.

The fact that pregnancy has been more common in older women stemming from late-life marriage whose benefits are huge. Tying the knot early, in some cases, would cause constant quarrels about rights of child-rearing between young couples due to their immature thoughts on marital values. In contrast, delayed marriage may secure better conditions for children’s future. This would help singles have more time to seek a financially stable job and broaden behavioural experience before deciding to live with someone forever. Besides, high remarriage rate led by the rise of divorce in recent years partly contributes to late childbirth. The reason is that the lack of compatibility forces many couples to end their first love and marry again. Therefore, they may start having children after age 35.

As mentioned above, the benefits of late childbirth are undeniable, however, elderly parents, as well as a society also face threats that they can foresee. Indeed, raising kids at old age is more arduous than that at a young age, not only because their health will decline but also because their children are too little to self-manage. Moreover, having children when reaching over 35 can affect pregnancy due to ageing health. As a result, babies are not healthy enough or even die a premature death.

In conclusion, stable income and settled life make delayed marriage more appealing. The thing is we need to consider the pros and cons of this to decide what is right for a happy union.

Band 8.5 Model Essay 3:

Many people currently decide not to have babies when they are young and wait until they get older instead. There are some reasons for this tendency, and it could have some impacts on family life as well as society.

To begin with, there are several reasons why a number of individuals want to have children later in their life. Firstly, this choice allows them to have more time to enjoy life when they are young. For instance, it is easier for a young couple to travel when they do not have a baby to nurture. Secondly, people who are at the early stage of their career usually have lower income compared to when they are older. Therefore, many people decide to start raising a family after having accumulated enough money to ensure a better life for their children.

However, this tendency might bring about some negative effects on both family life and society. The first impact is that having children later will cause a significant age gap between the two generations. This makes it harder for parents to understand and communicate with their offspring. Additionally, if people give birth when they are too old, the babies being born might be less physically healthy. This might adversely affect the quality of the future workforce if too many people decide to follow this trend.

In conclusion, there are some reasons why many people prefer to have children later in their life, and this tendency can result in some negative impacts on both family life and society.