I absolutely agree, money solves a lot of problems. Knowing that you can afford to pay your bills, knowing you can eat out and stretch your budget without breaking the bank next paycheck removes so much stress and frees you to focus on other things.

Constantly worrying about money, bills and what you can and cannot afford to do is brutal. Watching peers enjoy life makes it easier for you to stretch your credit card a bit more to "enjoy" a temporary moment of time you will undoubtedly pay heavily for in future.

It seems to be a vicious cycle and makes it more easy to neglect long term like retirement planning and savings.

I'd guess this problem will compound itself in about 20 years when this large swath of people reaches retirement age with no equity, no retirement and perhaps still lots of debt.