I guess I figure there are a few components of "being happy"
The first is feeling confident that your basic needs of food and housing are met. In today's world that equals either a stable income or a good social security net.
After that comes feelings of belonging, community, friends, etc.
After that comes pretty much anything else.

It's hard to be happy if you are worried about paying rent in 2 weeks, or if you are hungry and can't get anything to eat.