IELTS Essay Questions for the topic of Family. All essay questions below are reported by IELTS candidates and most have been repeated over the years. Regardless of the year reported, you could get any question below in your test. You should, therefore, prepare ideas for all questions given below. The topics below could appear in both GT and Academic IELTS Writing Task 2.
Family Essay Questions for IELTS Writing Task 2
Note that IELTS may paraphrase the question or change the task so don’t expect questions to appear the same. In other words, topics are repeated, but questions or tasks are often altered.
Nowadays parents put too much pressure on their children to succeed.
What is the reason for doing this?
Is this a negative or positive development? (Reported 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021)
Some people think it is better for children to grow up in the city, while others think that life in the countryside is more suitable.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of both places? (frequent question)
In many modern societies, grandchildren rarely spend any quality time with their grandparents.
What do you think are the consequences of this? (2019, 2021, 2022 – intergenerational topics are common many topics in IELTS)
Nowadays, it seems that different generations within the family spend less time doing activities together.
Why is that? Is it a positive or negative development? (2023)
Children can learn effectively by watching television. Therefore they should be encouraged to watch television regularly at home and at school.
To what extend do you agree or disagree? (Reported 2017, 2020, 2022, 2023 – the question could also ask about how to control the time children spend watching TV)
Some people think that the role of parents is to discipline their children and teach them about right and wrong. Other people consider that the main responsibility of parents is to nurture their children and provide them with a safe environment to grow up in.
Discuss both sides and give your opinion. (2020, 2022 – discipline questions could also be about corporal punishment as a means of discipline, such as hitting children)
Most modern families have both parents working and as a result children spend less and less time with their parents.
What is the reason for this?
What problems can this cause? (2020)
The nuclear family is well adapted to move geographically due to its size.
Do you think children benefit in any way from moving?
Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? (2019)
In the past, the older generation were a source of knowledge and experience. Nowadays, the older generation have little understanding or experience of the modern world.
Has this had any negative impact on the way the elderly are treated by society and the family?
What could be done to solve this situation? (2020)
In many western countries there is an increasing number of couples choosing to have no children.
What are the advantages and disadvantages to couples having no children? (2018, 2020, 2021)
These days people are living into their 90’s and beyond. As a result, there is increasing concern about care for the elderly.
Do you think it is the responsibility of the family to care for their elderly members or should the government be held responsible? (frequent question)
Children these days have more freedom than in pervious generations.
Do you think this is a positive or negative development? (2021, 2023)
The values we gain from our parents and family have more influence over our future success than any skills or knowledge learned in school.
To what extent do you agree or disagree? (2023)
Reported essay questions are from students who have taken their IELTS test. That means questions may have appeared more frequently than have been reported. These questions may vary slightly in wording and focus from the original question. Also note that these questions could also appear in IELTS speaking part 3 which is another good reason to prepare all topics thoroughly.
