Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
The extended family (such as grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles) is less important now than it was in the past.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
(Agree)
In the past, people made great use of their extended families to help improve their lives. However, this is not the case anymore as extended families are clearly less important now than they used to be.
These days, it is much easier for a person to live alone and not rely upon any family members for help. In the past, extended family members were crucial to people’s survival since most of them lived on farms and needed much physical labor to cultivate the land. But this is not the case nowadays. For example, my uncle lives alone in a big city and works for a bank. Most of his work involves dealing with figures, reports, and records. He gets paid enough to make a living. He does not require any of his family members’ assistance to “survive.” This is a tremendous change from times in the past.
Furthermore, while people often relied upon extended family members to take care of various household chores in the past, this is simply not the case anymore. Instead, people can employ various services to take care of all their needs. In the past, a grandmother or aunt might have helped to take care of the children in a family. However, parents now merely send their children to daycare centers. This is what my parents did for us when my brother and I were growing up. Duties and chores once done by extended family members are being replaced by people in paid positions.
Finally, most extended family members live too far away from one another to be of any use both in general and in times of need. A person who is not around cannot have any influence on the other members of his or her family. While my grandparents are wonderful, loving people, they live several hours away from us. We typically only see them on holidays or occasions like weddings or funerals. They have virtually no influence on me or anyone in my family. While this was not the case in the past, it is definitely true for many people today.
In conclusion, because people can survive living alone, can employ others to do important chores, and do not live close to many extended family members, it is clear that extended family members are not nearly as important as they once were. Additionally, I find it likely that this trend will continue and that extended family members’ influences will continue to decrease.
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