So true. Happiness research shows that there's a point past which it doesn't, but the flip side is that, up to that point, it does! (I wrote a whole zine basically about this once.)

I don't think people understand the sheer misery of poverty, never mind the insecurity and meanness it instills. Having money generally means not thinking about it, which isn't necessarily positive, but not having it is just dreadful.

Honestly, I sometimes think all kids should be taken away from their birth parents and raised in big Heinleinesque "creche" arrangements where at least they are all on equal economic footing. I'm sure this isn't really a good idea, but it would keep young kids from being scarred by inequality the way I was.