IELTS Task 1 Essay: Household Work
The bar chart below shows the average duration of housework women did (unemployed, part-time employed and full-time) when compared to men who had full-time work in the UK between 1985 and 2005.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
The bar chart details hours of housework completed in the UK from 1985 to 2005 by fully employed males and females with various states of employment. Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that time spent on housework rose for all groups with the exception of unemployed women, which was stable overall. However, the latter category undertook by far the most housework, while men with full-time jobs did comparatively little.
Unemployed women led throughout the period in terms of hours, at a peak of 7 hours in 1985 and 2005 and a slight dip to 6.5 hours in between. In contrast, men with full-time work were unchanged at just 1 hour in 1985 and 1995, though there was a slight rise to 1.5 hours in 2005.
Women with part-time employment were slightly lower than their unemployed counterparts throughout the period, beginning at 5.3 hours in 1985, before declining to 5 hours over the next 5 years, and then finishing the period with a surge to 6 hours. The figures for women with full-time employment resembled those of men, though they were marginally higher at 2, 1.5, and 2.8 hours in 1985, 1995, and 2005, respectively.
Analysis
1. The bar chart details hours of housework completed in the UK from 1985 to 2005 by fully employed males and females with various states of employment. 2. Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that time spent on housework rose for all groups with the exception of unemployed women, which was stable overall. 3. However, the latter category undertook by far the most housework, while men with full-time jobs did comparatively little.
- Paraphrase what the bar chart shows.
- Write a clear overview summarising the differences.
- You might need a second sentence for your overview.
1. Unemployed women led throughout the period in terms of hours, at a peak of 7 hours in 1985 and 2005 and a slight dip to 6.5 hours in between. 2. In contrast, men with full-time work were unchanged at just 1 hour in 1985 and 1995, though there was a slight rise to 1.5 hours in 2005.
- Begin writing about the data for the first category.
- Make sure you compare as much as possible.
1. Women with part-time employment were slightly lower than their unemployed counterparts throughout the period, beginning at 5.3 hours in 1985, before declining to 5 hours over the next 5 years, and then finishing the period with a surge to 6 hours. 2. The figures for women with full-time employment resembled those of men, though they were marginally higher at 2, 1.5, and 2.8 hours in 1985, 1995, and 2005, respectively.
- Write about the final other parts of the graph – include everything!
- There is a lot of data in this one but try to get to all of it.
Vocabulary
What do the words in bold below mean? Take some notes on a piece of paper to aid your memory:
The bar chart details hours of housework completed in the UK from 1985 to 2005 by fully employed males and females with various states of employment. Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that time spent on housework rose for all groups with the exception of unemployed women, which was stable overall. However, the latter category undertook by far the most housework, while men with full-time jobs did comparatively little.
Unemployed women led throughout the period in terms of hours, at a peak of 7 hours in 1985 and 2005 and a slight dip to 6.5 hours in between. In contrast, men with full-time work were unchanged at just 1 hour in 1985 and 1995, though there was a slight rise to 1.5 hours in 2005.
Women with part-time employment were slightly lower than their unemployed counterparts throughout the period, beginning at 5.3 hours in 1985, before declining to 5 hours over the next 5 years, and then finishing the period with a surge to 6 hours. The figures for women with full-time employment resembled those of men, though they were marginally higher at 2, 1.5, and 2.8 hours in 1985, 1995, and 2005, respectively.
Answers
Try to write down or think of an antonym/opposite word for further practice:
details shows
housework chores
completed in done in
fully employed males men with 40 hour a week jobs
females women
various states of employment different levels of work
Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that overall
with the exception of not counting the case of
stable overall unchanged in general
latter category area mentioned second
undertook did
by far a lot more than
full-time jobs normal workweek
comparatively little by comparison less
led throughout the period in terms of highest the whole time when it comes to
peak high point
slight dip small fall
in contrast however
unchanged no difference
though despite
slight rise small growth
part-time employment job with less than 40 hours a week
slightly lower a little less
counterparts their opposites
beginning at starting at
before declining to prior to falling to
finishing the period with a surge to ending the time surveyed with a big rise to
figures statistics
resembled looked like
marginally higher a little bigger
respectively in turn
Pronunciation
Practice saying the words below using this tip with Google voice dictation:
ˈdiːteɪlz
ˈhaʊswɜːk
kəmˈpliːtɪd ɪn
ˈfʊli ɪmˈplɔɪd meɪlz
ˈfiːmeɪlz
ˈveərɪəs steɪts ɒv ɪmˈplɔɪmənt
ˈlʊkɪŋ frɒm ən ˈəʊvərɔːl pəˈspɛktɪv, ɪt ɪz ˈrɛdɪli əˈpærənt ðæt
wɪð ði ɪkˈsɛpʃən ɒv
ˈsteɪbl ˈəʊvərɔːl
ˈlætə ˈkætɪgəri
ˌʌndəˈtʊk
baɪ fɑː
fʊl-taɪm ʤɒbz
kəmˈpærətɪvli ˈlɪtl
lɛd θru(ː)ˈaʊt ðə ˈpɪərɪəd ɪn tɜːmz ɒv
piːk
slaɪt dɪp
ɪn ˈkɒntrɑːst
ʌnˈʧeɪnʤd
ðəʊ
slaɪt raɪz
pɑːt-taɪm ɪmˈplɔɪmənt
ˈslaɪtli ˈləʊə
ˈkaʊntəpɑːts
bɪˈgɪnɪŋ æt
bɪˈfɔː dɪˈklaɪnɪŋ tuː
ˈfɪnɪʃɪŋ ðə ˈpɪərɪəd wɪð ə sɜːʤ tuː
ˈfɪgəz
rɪˈzɛmbld
ˈmɑːʤɪnəli ˈhaɪə
rɪsˈpɛktɪvli
Vocabulary Practice
Remember and fill in the blanks. Note it on a piece of paper so you can remember better:
The bar chart d________s hours of h______________k c________________n the UK from 1985 to 2005 by f_____________________________s and f___________s with v______________________________t. L____________________________________________t time spent on housework r____e for all groups w______________________f unemployed women, which was s_____________l. However, the l___________________y u___________k b________r the most housework, while men with f____________s did c_________________e.
Unemployed women l_________________________________f hours, at a p______k of 7 hours in 1985 and 2005 and a s______________p to 6.5 hours in between. I____________t, men with full-time work were u_____________d at just 1 hour in 1985 and 1995, t________h there was a s____________e to 1.5 hours in 2005.
Women with p____________________t were s________________r than their unemployed c____________s throughout the period, b________________t 5.3 hours in 1985, b______________o 5 hours over the next 5 years, and then f____________________________________o 6 hours. The f_________s for women with full-time employment r______________d those of men, though they were m________________r at 2, 1.5, and 2.8 hours in 1985, 1995, and 2005, r____________y.
Listening Practice
Listen to the related topic below and practice with these activities:
Reading Practice
Read more and use these ideas to practice:
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2018/feb/17/dirty-secret-why-housework-gender-gap
Speaking Practice
Practice with the following related questions from the real IELTS speaking exam:
Tidiness
- Are you a tidy person?
- Are you more tidy at home or at school?
- Were you tidy as a child?
- Are people in your country very tidy?
Writing Practice
Practice with the related chart below and then check with my sample answer:
Hello, in last sentence of last paragraph, how full time employed women (green) resembled full time employed man(purple)? They don’t even follow similar trajectory!
I think in the context of the whole graph it is similar – not identical – they both increase and the figures are much lower for those groups.
So by comparison they are very similar, which makes sense.
Ok. Thanx for reply
You’re welcome!
The bar chart details hours of housework done in the UK from the year 1985 to 2005 carried by fully employed males and women of various states of employment. Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that the time spent have rose for all categories instead of unemployed woman that overall stayed the same.
Unemployed women have been doing housework for 7 hours throughout 1985 till 2005 with a slight drop to 6.5 hours in 1995. Part – time employed women in comparison to fully employed women have been marginally higher with an increase from 5.5 hour to 6 hours in 2005 along with a slight dip to 5 hours in 1995.
Females working full time are almost the same as fully employed males but relatively higher. The women began with 2 hours, then 1.5 hours and lastly rose to 2.5 hours. In contrast the men remained unchanged at about 1 hour from 1985 to 2005 followed by a slight rise in 2005 to 1.5. However, the men comparatively did little throughout the years in contrast the all the females.
The figure compares the different average time spent on housework among three types of women and men with full-time employment from 1985 to 2005 in the UK.
It is clear that the hours spent on housework of unemployed women is the highest from 1985 to 2005, while that of men with full-time employment is the lowest. And the proportion of the average duration of housework does not change a lot.
All kinds of women spend more time on domestic tasks than men. In particular, unemployed women spent 6.5 to 7 hours on housework from 1985 to 2005, which is not a big change. We saw a 0.5-hour decrease in time spent on housework among all types of women from 1985 to 1995, and about a 1-hour increase from 1995 to 2005.
Men with full-time employment spent 1 hour on housework in 1985 and 1995, and that increased to 1.5 hours in 2005. The difference of hours spent on housework of women stay the same in these 2 decades. Unemlpoyed women spend 1 to 1.5 hours more than women with part-time employment, and women with part-time employment spend 3.5 hours more than women with full-time employment.
The bar chat illustrates the comparison between men with full-time employment and different level of women employment for the time spent on house affairs in the UK from 1995 to 2005. Looking from an overall perspective, unemployed women segment was the highest contributor while men with full-time employment segment was the lowest. However, there was a significant increase in all the categories over the 20 years.
With regard to leading participant of unemployed women among others, it spent for house works equal time of 7 hours in 1985 and 2005 while there was a slight dip in 1995 by 0.5 hour. In contrast, men with full time segment was identical in 1985 and 1995 with 1 hour but it just increased to 1.5 hours by 2005. Women with part-time employment allocated approximately 5.3 hours in 1985 and it slightly dip in next 10 years to be exactly 5 hours and showed an impressive growth in 2005 at 6 hours. Lastly, women with full time segment showed almost similar trend by comparison with latter segment and it recorded in 1985,1995 and 2005 for 2 hours, 1.5 hours and 2.5 hours respectively.
Great writing, Mihidan!
Really nice overview and good accurate writing about all the data – careful with your subject/verb agreement though.
Keep working hard!