IELTS Topic based vocabulary CHILDREN & FAMILY

CHILDREN & FAMILY is a topic that usually comes up in the IELTS speaking test and in Task 2 writing.  Here are just a few words to help you along on the topic of FAMILY.

VOCABULARY	DEFINITION	EXAMPLE
bring up	to take care of and educate a child until he/she is an adult.	Some parents need to bring up their children more strictly in order to instil some discipline.
overprotective	being too worried about someone's safety, especially a child.	Some parents tend to be too overprotective of their children.
nuclear family	a family consisting of two parents and their children, but not including aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.	In some parts of the world the nuclear family remains at the heart of modern society.
extended family	a family unit which includes grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts and uncles, etc. in addition to parents and children who live together or live close to each other.	In many cultures, such as in those of many  Southern European countries, Asians, Middle Easterners, Africans and Latin Americans extended families are the basic family unit.
birth rate	The total ration of live births in a specified population in a community over a particular period of time and is usually defined as live births out of 1000.	The lowest birth rates tend to be in developed countries.  The government showed record-low birth rates 63.2 per 1000 women, was the lowest ever recorded.

It is commonly believed that the BIRTH RATES in Europe and Japan are decreasing whilst in other parts of the world the birth rates are increasing. This also reflects on the culture and how the family structure is constructed.

The way children are BROUGHT UP  varies from culture to culture with many cultures believe that living with the EXTENDED FAMILY will give the parents the support to those who need it.  In contrast, families in the US and UK tend to be more of the NUCLEAR FAMILY.  Personally, I believe the extended family network is great but at the same time I think children from extended families are OVERPROTECTED.