Nowadays, Fewer People Tend To Look After Their Old Relatives And Send Them To Old Age Homes | Band 9 IELTS Essay Sample

Nowadays, fewer people tend to look after their old relatives and send them to some old age homes. What is the situation in your country? In your opinion,
who should be responsible to look after the elderly?

Here is a band 9 IELTS essay on this topic. Need help with IELTS writing? Get your IELTS essays, letters and reports corrected by me.

Band 9 IELTS essay sample

In this age of nuclear families where both spouses work no one has time to take care of aged parents and hence in many countries sending them to old age homes is the norm. Luckily, in my country, India, this trend is yet to catch up and older people continue to live with their children and grandchildren. In my opinion, families that have the financial and other means to look after their elderly relatives should do it themselves and not send their older parents to care homes.

In India, old age homes are still looked down upon and sending senior family members to care homes is not considered morally or culturally appropriate. There are very few old age homes in my country and those who end up in such places usually are childless or have their children living abroad. In such situations if they are not able to take their parents with them, they may be sent to a care home especially if they need special care. Those seniors who can take care of themselves on their own will continue to live in their home with the assistance of a home nurse or a relative willing to live with them. Really poor families that cannot afford to care for the aged father or mother may send them to a government run senior care family.

In my opinion, adult children have a responsibility to look after their parents in their twilight years and as such there is no justification for sending them to a care facility in those years when they need their children’s love and support the most. Of course, if the senior needs special care that families cannot provide at home, it is necessary to send them to a care home. Aged couples who do not have children of their own or whose children died early may also have to spend their final years in a care facility. Barring these unfortunate situations, I see no reasons for old people to end up in a senior care home.

To conclude, while in many parts of the home it is normal for old people to spend their final years in a care home, the situation is different in my country where families usually care for their aged relatives at home. In my opinion, adult children who can look after their parents should do it themselves and not shirk the responsibility.

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