Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness

Credits to Fizkes on Unsplash

Money doesn’t buy happiness.

Let’s start by looking at the world. There are people who wake up every single day already knowing that they do not have enough.

For the single mother being forced to choose between rent and medicine.
For the student watching their parents drown in cycles of unending debt.
For the worker who has to worry about every penny, to set a meal on the table.

These people do not need to be told: “Money will make you happy.”

They already know what money does.  It buys food. It buys safety.  It buys rest. It provides something that they can never get.

What they need to be told is something else:

That their lives are not a failure.
That their suffering is not proof of inferiority.
That happiness is not a luxury reserved for people with money.

The narrative “money can’t buy happiness” exists for them.

It draws a line between:
having enough to survive
and being allowed to feel a certain amount of contentment with there lives.

If we erase this narrative, however, and replace it with the current trend young people tend to follow; “Money buys happiness”, 

We are telling the vulnerable, the poor, the people stuck with the same conditions they were since birth with no methods of being uplifted:

  that joy is something they are priced out of,

  that dignity belongs to the rich,

  and that their lives are permanently incomplete. 

Lets not deny that money is a factor for you to enjoy life more, worry less, and have a certain sense of stability, which ultimately provides you peace of mind. But, this narrative is promoted so much, to the extent that there exists more comparison to vulnerable people, who already bear a lot of financial burdens. These are the people who already have too much work on their backs, with societal expectations and personal guilt when they feel like they haven’t met their moral obligations.

Let’s look at this narrative in a more neutral stance.

Because more than often, his narrative is often looked at through the lives of the wealthy; people who live in mansions, own expensive cars, and have freedom from work. Never from those who live with the least. For people facing financial issues, money is not an indication of your status; it is for your own survival. It pays for food, rent, school fees, and healthcare. In this case then, money can certainly reduce stress and prevent suffering. A stable income can mean fewer sleepless nights and fewer impossible choices.

 It would be wrong, then, to say that money does not matter. For someone living in poverty, a small increase in income can greatly improve your own quality of life. Simply being able to afford healthcare, nutritious food, and safe housing is a great advantage. In this way, money contributes (a lot) to the conditions in which happiness becomes more possible. 

Many people who face financial issues still find happiness in things like relationships, faith, community, and personal pride. A parent, for instance, may feel joy in a child’s success even while worrying about bills. A student may feel hopeful because of friendships or learning, despite limited resources compared to richer kids who have access to private tutors and expensive academies. This will show that happiness is not created by money itself, but by the feeling that there will always be someone to help you and make you proud. 

So does money buy happiness? 

The answer appears to depend on what we mean by happiness. If happiness is perceived as freedom from hunger, illness, and fear, then money obviously is very important. But if happiness is understood as long-term fulfillment, belonging, and self-worth, then money is not enough. The lives of vulnerable people show both worlds at once: money can reduce suffering, but it does not replace the human need for meaning and connection. Even Elon Musk, the richest man on Earth, claims that money does not buy happiness. 

Perhaps a more balanced way to view the narrative is that money can support happiness and create the conditions for happiness, but it cannot create happiness on its own. For those with the least, money will provide you with relief from a certain hardship you might face. For those with more, it gives you a sense of comfort and choice (e.g., still getting to spend money on valuable experiences like travel). Yet across all levels of wealth, happiness still depends on factors that cannot be bought by money alone—relationships, dignity, and a sense of purpose. Looking through the lives of the most vulnerable will show us that while money matters deeply, it is not the same as happiness itself because happiness is a purely irreplaceable experience.

Let’s not deny that money cannot remove pain.
Let’s deny that painlessness is the same as happiness.

This narrative protects the last thing vulnerable people still own:
their right to joy without permission from a bank account.