New job-huge paycut but for happiness?

OK i was making $48 annually at my current job. it is a social work job for civil services, i worked in a county nursing home, but i have a psych population/hiv, not little old ladies/men. On top of this, it is my first job out of school. Im really not satisfied with this place, although the pay is good. They told me if i dont get my license, which i tried to take, but keep failing by a few pts, in sept they would get rid of me or keep me but my title will change to caseworker and i would have to take a paycut anyway, they will not tell me now what the paycut would be.
Anyway, i was looking for jobs, I was offered a new job in a different county, which i would like to move to in the near future anyway. I would be a social worker but the salary they are starting me with is only $38 annual, they did say after 3 month probation they would negotiate a higher salary. New job is geriatrics
So...this is a HUGE paycut. BUT my question is what is ur opinion? I live on long island by the way

Is it 48K annually or $48 an hour annually? The second means you are making $100,000 a year for your first MSW job is amazing (it is hard to imagine you will find many jobs that will be able to meet that). Even though you are taking close to a $20K pay cut it sounds like that may reduce to 10K in 3 months and might be a better fit. Another factor to figure in is the benefits package with both jobs. If they are comparable, then the cut really is not that bad. DA

what ive heard is that you should always go for the job that makes you happy. money is second to that.

I think you should do what makes you happy, I have recently found this new feeling about my career. Im giving up over 70k a year for probably 1/2, to do a job I like.

I left the fast-paced business world with its huge stress and paychecks to work in construction and I never regretted it. I spend every evening and weekend with my friends and family and I have a great life at a fraction of the budget I used to have!