The cost of housing in any parts of Germany has become so excessive th

Question

The cost of housing in any parts of Germany has become so excessive that many young couples with average salaries can only afford small apartments. Mortgage commitments are so huge that they cannot consider the possibility of starting a family. A new baby would probably mean either the mother or father giving up a well -paid position. The lack of or great cost of child care facilities precludes the return of both parents to work.

Which of the following adjustments could practically be made to the situation described above which would allow young couples to improve their housing prospects?

A) encourage couples to remain childless
B) encourage couples to have one child only
C) encourage couples to postpone starting families until at a later age than previously acceptable to society.
D) encourage young couples to move to cheaper areas of Germany.
E) encourage couples to work more in an already tight work routine.

ynk · Answer

Its "D" for me.

In C postponing starting families until at a later age than previously acceptable to society does not help as even in the later stage their housing prospects wil remain the same.

In D if they move to cheaper area then there is definitely an improvement in housing prospects.

chetan2u · Answer

Hi ynk,

D cannot be the answer as the first statement clearly mentions that there are NO cheaper areas..
The cost of housing in  any parts of Germany  has become so excessive..

C gives us a reason and is acceptable as we are talking ONLY from point of view of affording houses..
and incase the couple work for a longer period without any commitment at personal front in term of kids..

Ofcourse there could have been better practical solutions like - creating affordable and better child care facilities but we have to find the best choice..

C wins over all other...,.

ynk · Answer

Ok agree with you but still would like to know that if they postpone starting the family,even in the later stage of their life they will be faced in similar situations and their housing prospects will not improve.

Can these type of questions be counted as official ?

Can these type of questions be counted as official ?

chetan2u · Answer

....

Hi,

as I wrote above too, that it is just the better one there..
also correctly mentioned by you , we do not know from Q and choice that what was the earlier timeframe and does postponing it really would get them to paying mortgage loans..
Questionable 
as the words are -  Mortgage commitments are so huge that they cannot consider the possibility of starting a family. ..

But still C is the only one close by, and that is what we are looking for..
May be you do not see such reasoning in Actuals..

ynk · Answer

Ok.your usage of "May be" is highly ambiguous here :-D

Thanks for the help.

chetan2u · Answer

I would say " in all probabilities, you will not see such argument and reasoning involved with it"...... Where would you see instead of encouraging goverment to build child care or reduce rates, WE encourage couples to delay their planning about starting a family... it has become HOUSE vs FAMILY.. A better option would be- Do not get MARRIED :-D

...... after all responsiblities do come up after marriage

warriorguy · Answer

Question does not seem to be GMAT-like.

Option C presents a better alternative between A and C. A is an extreme case and we should avoid such cases.

If the couples postpone starting a family, then they could use the time to build up their savings to use it for improving the housing prospects.

The best option would be to adopt someone who is already earning so that even he/she could contribute to the pool :lol:

mehrotrayashraj · Answer

chetan2u  why can we not consider option A?
The two variables here are - Buy a house and raise a child. 
If you raise a child, then only one parent can work and thus you cannot pay for the house.
If you do not raise a child, then only both can work and thus you can pay for the house.

Bringing in society and acceptance takes us away from the simple 2 variables provided in the stem.

profileusername · Answer

The question is about improving housing prospects. To me, (A) seems to be the better choice as it at least doesn't add to the huge "mortgage commitments". The question asked is related to family and child only by the fact that they add to the already heavy housing cost. From the given information, (A) stands out for me. (A) and (C) are similar in that they both encourage more or less the same thing: "staying childless" and "postponing families". (C) has an additional factor of the "acceptability of society". This answer does make sense, though, not without any far fetched assumptions.

Is the question GMAT official?

Is the question GMAT official?

abhimahna · Answer

Hi TheMastermind , Yes, this question is not a GMAT Like question. Also, A is too extreme to mark as the answer. Remember, our aim is to improve their housing prospects, so asking them to remain childless is not a solution. :-D

Given a choice between A and C, I would always prefer option C. Let me know in case of any concern.

Arro44 · Answer

Discovered this via the Verbal Bot, not a big fan...

I think the quality is far beyond what most questions from reputable sources offer.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

(C)

Encouraging couples to remain childless would have a negative social effect and would not be practical, so answer alternative (A) is not a reasonable suggestion. The income loss involved in having one child is not much more than that involved in having two or more children (assuming the loss of the income of one parent or the expense of child care), so suggestion (B) is also invalid. If couples move to cheaper areas in the country, as suggested in (D), the chances are that work would be less available or possibly that the couple would have a less positive economic future, so the change may not necessarily be financially advantageous. If fathers stayed at home rather than mothers, there would be no improvement in financial status, so suggestion (E) is invalid. Suggestion (C) is the only sensible solution, since financial stability is likely to increase with the length of the time in employment.

VerbalBot · Answer

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The cost of housing in any parts of Germany has become so excessive th

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