BAND 7.5 IELTS ESSAY SAMPLE: EFFECTS OF INCREASING RETIREMENT AGE IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES - BOTH SIDES DISCUSSION

All General Writing Task 1 Samples / Band 7.5

In many countries, the age of retirement is being increased gradually as life expectancy rises. Some people argue that this has negative effects on the workforce, while others think it is beneficial. Discuss both views and provide your own opinion.

Essay Sample

The age of retirement has been a controversial topic in the past few years. As the life expectancy grows, the age of retirement increases in many parts of the world. People have two general opinions towards the mentioned issue. One group believes this to be a positive trend while the other portion claims opposition.
There are some convincing arguments in favor of the first group. For instance, the corporate can benefit from the valuable work experience of the older members if they were able to work for a longer period of time. In addition, the effort, time and money spent on certain individuals to become professional workers must be acknowledged and appreciated by having those of older ages work as long as possible.
On the other hand, the vast majority of society is agaisnt the seemingly unstoppable rise of retirement age. They believe it to have more detrimental effects than benefits, arguing that older people neither have the capacity nor the incentive of a young person to work efficiently and productively. They are of the opinion that letting people keep the same positions for many years will deprive younger people of job opportunities and promotions. Additionally, many of the older workers are not willing to continue working because of their health conditions and they must not have to do so.
From my point of view, retirement age shouldn't grow since people work to live, not live to work. Given today's unemployment rate and economy, it is best for everyone to retire sooner.