Money Doesn’t Bring Happiness, But We Keep Spending

Natalie Parletta explores what does make us happy — it’s not a never-ending supply of chocolate.

I remember finding fifty dollars on the sidewalk in my primary school days. Fifty dollars! It was like winning a lottery. I was on my way to school sports day, so of course I bought as many different lollies, chocolates, chips and other goodies as I could gorge myself and win friends with.

I felt like Charlie Bucket, a poor boy who found a winning chocolate wrapper in the snow revealing he had won a fortune: an unlimited, lifetime supply of chocolate and a tour of Willi Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

Money. We all want it, the luxury, glitter, sparkle. It promises to fulfil our dreams and transport us to that elusive place of blissful abundance, of never-ending chocolate. Worlds traversed by the rich and famous, where life is one big enviable party, one big yacht cruise enjoyed through hazy gin and tonic-coloured glasses.

Does it endow happiness like the glossy magazines promise?

Lots of scientists have been interested in whether money makes people happy. Some are surprised that it doesn’t, especially in rich countries. Even when incomes have risen, happiness levels have not. Rich people are not necessarily happier.