Topic 2: Today some people have to work away from their family. What are the advantages and disadvantages?

The 21st century is characterized by the rapid rate of change concerning politics, economy and social structure. Many conspicuous trends have taken places in our society, and mobility of jobs is one of the major changes. In the past, it is commonplace for people to hold a job in their neighborhood for life time. However, nowadays, while most people commute hours on a daily basis, some people even leave their family to take jobs in another city. Its impact on people’s lives has sparked heated discussion.

Some people assert that working away from family spares people the trivial household chores and creates better opportunity for them to concentrate on their career development. It is obvious to see that being distant from his or her family members and living a “single” life, one can save much time on housework. Take dining for example. People with families are likely to dine at home and thus they need to buy groceries, do the cooking and washing, which can be very time and energy consuming. But if the parent works away from the family, he or she can simply buy some fast food and finish a meal in ten minutes. Besides, there are many distractions when he or she needs to work overtime. Fierce competition in job market and constantly progressing science and technology require people to work harder than ever before. In order to catch up with the times and succeed in the intense competition, it is common for people to spend much off work time learning new skills. If they are with their families, people can hardly concentrate, because their children, spouse or parents are very likely to distract them from their work.

However, the drawbacks of people working away from their family are also tremendous. To begin with, distance may give rise to alienation between family members, and it is also a sorrow if a parent is absent from a child’s growth, giving up all the quality time when they could have so much fun together. Besides, the ones who work alone in a strange city may easily suffer from homesickness which is likely to cause additional stress on them.

To sum up, with the trend of mobility continuously prevails, the number of people who are working in other cities is on the rise. Taking this lifestyle, one can enjoy more leisure time so as to concentrate on self-improvement, while the alienation among the family members and the feeling of loneliness are the prices they have to pay.