Paul Hopkins: Christmas cash won’t help the child waiting on scoliosis treatment

Can money buy you happiness? I only ask because right now it's raining down Budget 2025 lump-sum payments on social welfare recipients, child benefit has been doubled, and parents will receive €280 payments twice before Christmas. A newborn baby grant of €280 — extended to include December births — will further help families. In the coming days, thousands of households will benefit from additional social welfare boosts.

And during the TV General Election debate the other night, everything bar the kitchen sink was being thrown at us – from free child care, to free GP visits up to the age of 18, from the current age nine, to a state pension of €350 by 2030 and the promise of a four-day working week.

These payments are perhaps welcome in the short term, offering relief during the cost-of-living crisis. But do they really address the root problems? These measures provide temporary comfort without tackling systemic issues like wage stagnation, childcare costs, and the continual gap in Ireland’s public services.

Nobel laureates Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton have explored this notion of whether money truly makes people happier. Their findings were nuanced: while more money might make us think our lives are better, it does not necessarily make us feel any better.

Let's park a few facts first. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the average wage of full-time workers in Ireland has gone from €45,611 in 2018 to €55,394.24 this year, hardly a fortune, and after basic needs not much left to acquire status symbols like club memberships.

Consider this, though: the Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) shows that 30 per cent of Irish households have a nett income of less than €30,000 a year.

The top 20 per cent of households have more than €80,000, while one in seven households has above €100,000.

Only two per cent have above €200,000.

However, researchers often present diverse findings related to the connection between income and happiness. It’s not so much the level of income that directly determines your level of happiness, but rather the ways in which you are able to direct your income to purposes that are likely to bring you happiness and satisfaction. Holidays and hobbies and such.

The Apple tax windfall is the golden goose in this election. Labour, for instance, has pledged €7 billion into housing, including €6 billion for a state construction company. This ambitious plan promises relief for Ireland’s chronic housing crisis, alongside €1 billion for water infrastructure. The Greens have similarly grand visions, dedicating €7 billion to major transport projects, plus an additional €3 billion from "other sources”.

While these promises sound well-intended, there is an air of opportunism about them. But the Kahneman and Deaton research offers a stark reminder: money, while helpful, is not the panacea it is often made out to be.

One or two payments at Christmas will not help the man waiting two years to see an oncologist or the child awaiting treatment for scoliosis or the couple trying to get a home. There's little happiness in these scenarios... nor indeed for the 4,561 children homeless this Christmas.

And let's not mention the potential transAtlantic trade wars when Donald Trump takes the reins...