大作文

As countries develop, their populations tend to live individually or in small family units. In your opinion, what is this cause and what are the effects on society.

相关题目：

不少学生看不懂这个题目，如果读一下4个月之前的题目，也许会有比较准确的了解。Live individual 意味着不结婚，不和父母住一起;small family units指的是丁克夫妇，不要孩子的夫妻。下面题目中的have children late in life是说生孩子晚。这两道题都是report题型，且都是问原因和结果。

In some countries around the world men and women are having children late in life. What are the reasons for this development? What are the effects on society and family life? 2012.12.08

提纲：

In modern society, young people prefer to stay apart from their parents and live alone in a metropolis. Further, they have a tendency of postponing their parenthood until late 30’s or even early 40’s.

This trend may involve some factors and the most rooted one can be modern urbanized lifestyle which features high level of mobility and instability of economic situation. In addition, young people facing enormous competition and stress at workplace, have to focus on their jobs and therefor have little time for their families. Obviously under such circumstance, committing to a serious relationship or starting a family, which means tremendous responsibility and dedication, is not a preferable choice. Also the extended family is no longer a realistic option and is replaced by the nuclear one. The cost increase of raising a child is another barrier to late parenthood, and this is especially obvious in major cities around the world.

This change of lifestyle can have some negative effects on individuals and the society as a whole. Firstly low birthrates can result in an ageing population and a lack of labor force in the future. Medical care service will be in high demand and medical cost will rise significantly.

Living alone without long term and stable relationships is widely thought to be associated with personal sense of happiness, which would reduce an individual’s general satisfaction with life, but increase the sense of isolation.

Traditionally, cultures and values are passed on in family daily life. However, in modern cities, the young generation living away from the older one have little chance to learn any from their parents. Instead, they are being assimilated by globally popular cultures.