Start practising

Opinion (Agree / Disagree) Society Task 2

People living in the 21st century generally have a better quality of life than people who lived in the previous century. To what extent you agree or disagree.

A full IELTS Writing Task 2 answer to this question, with a paragraph plan and what this question type is asking you to do.

The question

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

People living in the 21st century generally have a better quality of life than people who lived in the previous century. To what extent you agree or disagree.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

How to read this question

You are given one statement and asked how far you agree. The examiner is checking that you take a clear position in the introduction and hold it consistently to the conclusion — a partial agreement is fine, an unclear one is not.

Paragraph plan

Introduction — Paraphrase + clear balanced position

Body 1 — Main agreement - technological and medical advances

Body 2 — Exceptions and conditions - inequality and location

Conclusion — Restate balanced position

Model answer

Model answer

284 words

The question of whether contemporary society enjoys superior living standards compared to previous generations is frequently debated. While I largely agree that the 21st century offers better quality of life, I believe this advantage is not universal and depends significantly on individual circumstances and geographic location.

Modern society undeniably benefits from unprecedented technological and medical breakthroughs that have fundamentally improved human existence. Healthcare advances have virtually eliminated diseases that were death sentences in the 20th century, while life expectancy has increased dramatically across most regions. Furthermore, digital connectivity has revolutionized communication, education, and commerce, enabling instant global interaction and access to vast knowledge repositories. Even basic amenities like clean water, electricity, and transportation are now more widely available than ever before, creating opportunities for personal and professional development that previous generations could barely imagine.

However, this improved quality of life is not uniformly distributed, and significant disparities exist based on economic status and geographical location. Millions still lack access to basic necessities like clean water, healthcare, and education, experiencing living conditions arguably worse than middle-class families of the previous century. Additionally, modern challenges such as environmental degradation, social media-induced mental health issues, and increasing economic inequality create new forms of suffering that were less prevalent in earlier times. Rural communities in developing nations, for instance, may have limited access to the technological benefits that define 21st-century progress.

In conclusion, while technological and medical advances have generally elevated human living standards in the 21st century, the benefits are not equally accessible to all. I agree that most people today enjoy better quality of life than their predecessors, but this improvement remains conditional on factors such as economic status, geographic location, and access to modern infrastructure.

Model answers written and reviewed by The English All-in-One IELTS team. They are teaching models showing what each band looks like, not real candidate scripts.

This is an opinion (agree / disagree) question. The model answer above shows you what a strong answer looks like when it is finished. What it cannot show you is how to get there from a blank page in forty minutes.

That is what our Writing Study Library is for: the structure we teach for this exact question type, the paragraph pattern that goes with it, and the sentence openers for each stage — so the essay is planned before you start writing rather than assembled as you go.

See the structure for this question type →

Write your own answer

Draft your response below and get it marked against all four IELTS criteria — free, no account, one check a day.

0 words Check my answer

Answers checked here may be published on this page, without your name, to help other learners. Nothing else about you is stored.