Prompt: In many countries today, people in cities either live alone or in small family units, rather than in large, extended family groups. Is this a positive or negative trend?

These days, living alone or in small family units, compared to in large or extended groups, is more enjoyed by people. Personally, this is a negative tendency to me for three key reasons. Ċ Firstly, while a standard family containing two or more generations is more likely to bring the sense of family spirit, living in small families or alone may decrease this. The reason is that it prevents people from having strong connections with other members. As a result, they will lack an invaluable part of life, leading to unfulfillment. For example, people who work away from their families could lead a less happy life, as they do not have a chance to meet their beloved ones frequently whom they can share and express themselves comfortably. Ċ Second, people living with few members in their family may suffer from financial pressure. This is because they are less likely to share the bills and expenses with other ones, especially those living alone. This, in the long term, would result in more serious effects, such as bad debt or even crime involvement. For instance, youngsters who do not have financial share within their family may commit robbing, when they have to deal with stacks of expenditure lists waiting for them. Ċ Thirdly, the more people live separately, the higher the need for shelters is. Consequently, there would be land and space shortages, as constructing houses or apartments require a lot of resources. If this continues to happen at a rapid pace, the government would run out of land to construct social architectures such as hospitals or schools to benefit the public. Ċ To sum up, even though there is an increasing number of people who prefer to live on their own or in small family capacity, it seems to me that this is nothing but a negative trend.