Money is not necessary for happiness of the people in a country

IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Some people say that money is not necessary for happiness of the people in a country. Others say rich economy helps in bringing happiness to the people.

Discuss both sides and give your opinion.

Write at least 250 words.


Sample Answer:
According to Jane Austen, “money can only give happiness where there is nothing else to give it”. There is much lively debate about the correlation between money and happiness. In many circles, it is believed that having robust economy does not necessarily mean that people will be happy of the country, while others contend that sound economy brings forth happiness to the citizens. In the instance, I am of the honest opinion, economic prosperity does not make people happy if there is an absence of fair distribution of wealth.

A strong economy may lead to happiness. With the strong economy, a country may able to increase wages that contribute to per capita income. That is to say, the sound economy enhances people’s purchasing capacity. Which by consequence enables people meeting their basic needs and amenities. And people tend to be happy when people meet their basic demands. Apart from that, the government also able to develop infrastructure, such as school, hospitals, roads and highways, amusement park and so on, which in turn help improve the living standard of the country, and people are likely happy in consequence of better living standard.

But, economic progress does not always translate to happiness. Economic growth, in reality, is typically not shared equally among the segments of society, which in turn leads to income inequality. Therefore, although a nation’s GDP may be rapidly rising, only relatively few people are getting the benefits from the economic progress. Common people are actually not befitting from the economic prosperity. For example, many studies shows that in the years of economic growth but income disparities between poor and rich are growing, there was no rise in a nation’s happiness.  So, life satisfaction or happiness does not increase in tandem with economic prosperity.

At this juncture, I completely agree with the notion that a strong economy does not necessarily make people happy. For a country’s happiness to increase, accumulation of wealth is not sufficient. The fair distribution of wealth critically determines whether the population’s life satisfaction will increase on the whole. On the basis of the discussion, it is safe to say that if economic prosperity and happiness go hand in hand, it is when the wealth is distributed evenly.

Useful Vocabulary:

Amenity, Disparity, Segment, Per capita income, Fair, Distribution, Satisfaction, Prosperity, Progress.