This very same question has been asked again and again, and after all
the facts have been considered, the final conclusion usually is that
it can’t.

However, what amount of money are we talking about here?  Maybe to millionaires, a few thousand dollars more or less per year doesn’t make much difference to their level of happiness… but to a person living near the poverty line, it certainly does. 

Let’s take Japan, for example. Usually people believe that Japan is a
rich country where all people enjoy a high standard of life and are
able to buy everything they need. Aren’t the Japanese those people
who travel with expensive cameras around their necks and drive big
Toyotas?

Yes, some people enjoy a high standard of life but the income gap is
widening and the number of homeless people is increasing. The time
where everybody enjoyed lifetime employment is over.

After the bubble economy of the 1980s, companies dropped the lifetime
employment system and put a freeze on hiring full timers. Young
people who graduated from university in the 90’s found themselves
locked out of full time employment and became what is here known as
“freeters” - free-lancers aka part-timers who can be hired and fired
at will.

Now these freeters are in their 30’s and many of them still
live with their parents for the simple reason that their income does
not allow them to rent a place of their own. Consequently, on their
low incomes they can’t afford to go dating let alone get married and
start a family. Hence the birthrate in Japan is among the lowest in
the world at 1.18 and the Japanese government is seriously worried
about the aging of the population and the looming shortage of workers
and taxpayers to keep the social security and pension system going.

Maybe money cannot buy happiness but… it certainly can help avoiding a
lot of problems and unhappiness.

* * *

This is a guest post written by Julian Hebbrecht, a student of MakeMoneyFromWriting.com.  Julian is learning how to turn writing skills into a successful freelance writing business with consistent income.