(Model essay) The latest IELTS Task 2 question as seen in Winnipeg, Canada

Many people choose to work or live abroad because of the higher standards of living they can find outside their home country. Do you think this brings more advantages or disadvantages to the people who follow this path?

Often in today’s world, people are attracted to countries that can offer them increased opportunities and higher standards of living. Although this may drain talent within the country being emigrated from, I feel this phenomenon brings with it more advantages than disadvantages to the individuals who choose this lifestyle. This will be proven by looking at the issues of health care and education.

To start, people coming from countries with underdeveloped health care systems may be able to increase their longevity by moving abroad. For example, average life expectancy in Mainland China is roughly a decade lower than that found in neighbouring Japan. Although several factors are responsible for this disparity, the quality of health care must be assumed to play a very key role. Thus, as this example shows, extended life expectancy is a major advantage people may enjoy should they choose to live in places offering them higher standards of living.

Education quality is yet another benefit people who move to areas boasting higher standards of living can reap. While living in the Emirates, for instance, I met many people from Khartoum (located in what is now North Sudan). These people told me that the education they were receiving in Dubai was invaluable to them and greatly increased their chances of landing a comfortable salary and lifestyle. As my experience shows, many advantages come to people who choose to uproot their existence and move to a more developed part of the globe.

Following this look at how higher grade health care and educational resources can improve a person’s quality of life, it has been proven more advantages than disadvantages come to people who choose to live in countries more developed than their home country.