Academic Writing Sample Task 1 #47
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table below shows the
proportion of different categories of families living in poverty in Australia in
1999.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant.
You should write at least 150 words.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge
or experience.
| Family type |
Proportion of people from each household type living in poverty |
|
single aged person aged couple single, no children couple, no children sole parent couple with children all households |
6% (54,000) 4% (48,000) 19% (359,000) 7% (211,000) 21% (232,000) 12% (933,000) 11% (1,837,000) |
Model answer
The table gives a breakdown of the different type of family
who were living in poverty in Australia in 1999.
On average, 11% of all households, comprising almost two million people, were in
this position. However, those consisting of only one parent or a single adult had
almost doubt this proportion of poor people, with 21% and 19% respectively.
Couples generally tended to be better off, with lower poverty levels for couples
without children (7%) than those with children (12%). It is noticeable that for
both types of household with children, a higher than average proportion were living
in poverty at this time.
Older people were generally less likely to be poor, though once again the trend
favoured eldery couples (only 4%) rather than single eldery people (6%).
Overall the table suggests that households of single adults and those with children
were more likely to be living in poverty than those consisting of couples.
(154 words)