Living Alone | Writing for Academic IELTS PDF Download

In this living alone essay, you have to examine the trend for more people to live by themselves rather than other people. It is another representation of the general trend towards individualism in society. Remember you should start by examining the question very carefully.

Q. In recent times, many people are making the decision to live alone. What are the causes of this? Does it have positive or negatives effects on society?

Hint:

• You should first note that there are two tasks that need to be addressed:
  • The causes
  • The negative / positive impacts on society
• You must address all these things.
• You should also have noted that it says effects on society. So you should not be talking about impacts on the individual (or if you do, you should explain how it will then impact society).
• You could do three body paragraphs in the living alone essay - one on the causes, one on the positive effects and one on the negative. Or you could just split it into two body paragraphs.
• However, you don't have to write about positive and negative effects if you don't want to. It says negative or positive, so you could decide it is one or the other.
• You should make those decisions after you have brainstormed your ideas. If you can only think of negative effects then fine, just write about those and make sure your opinion states that.

Sample Answer

• There has been a tendency in many countries over recent years for more people of all ages to choose to live alone. This essay will discuss the reasons for this and explain why this can have both advantages and disadvantages for society. 
• One reason for this trend is economic. People are generally more affluent than in the past, and this means that they can afford to make the choice to live alone, something not always possible in the past. In addition to this, there are also cultural factors. There used to be more pressure to marry young and think about having a family. Now though, people desire self-fulfilment, and will marry later or divorce if their marriage is not happy. Also, the developments in communication technology such as social media mean that people can live alone but still feel connected to others.
• I would argue that this development has positive and negative impacts on society. A positive impact is that those individuals who are young and single have helped to revitalise cities around the world, as they are more likely to live in central locations and socialise, spend money and participate in public life than those living with others. However, a drawback is that some people living alone who experience problems may not have an outlet to talk about them. This lack of social support could lead to more mental health problems in the general population, which would need to be dealt with by public health care services.  
• To conclude, economic and cultural factors, and changes in communication have resulted in more people living alone, and, although this has benefits to society, there are also negative impacts.