Money can't buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.

money can't buy happiness, but it's a hell of a lot better to cry in a Mercedes than on a bike

Money buys free time and luxuries. Just not having to worry about rent or a car payment or whatever you've got going on, is a quality of life improvement. Money absolutely does buy happiness for the lower class.

Imo the lack of money flowing to the lower rungs of the societal ladder is why we've seen a trend upward in depression and suicide. "When it's all hopeless, why stick around?"