A large portion of working Americans (even in two-income families) are a missed paycheck or two from financial ruin. Or a medical emergency that can be catastrophic both physically and monetarily.
I don't think that most people are unable to handle money; I think a more accurate statement would be that a lot of folks have no clue how to handle money. How to budget. Because so many "life skills" are no longer taught in school. Or by their parents. Through instruction and/or setting the example.
As an AP student, I took Bookkeeping as an elective in High School. That course taught me so many basic facts about money, and where it goes. Like how to write a check. That you don't write a check if there's no money in the account.
Take my niece as an example. She was shopping with her mother. She wanted a new coat. Her mother said she couldn't afford it; there was no money in the checking account. My niece said she didn't understand why that was a problem since she still had blank checks she could write. WTF???
And this industry sorely needs to be regulated. While I understand the credit risk associated with lending to these type of folks, it boggles my brain that the least able to pay are charged the most interest.
And don't say well, they should get better jobs; that's just an unrealistic response. Cuz there are millions of Americans just like my sister--she's working retail because that's all she's been able to find. And then there are the sins of youth that always come back to haunt.
Here's a short article from USA Today earlier this year that I found interesting:
Personal debt: Are Americans responsible with their paychecks?