While a significant portion of that 78% might be people who think a monthly income of X means they can service debts with monthly costs of X, there are also peo

While a significant portion of that 78% might be people who think a monthly income of X means they can service debts with monthly costs of X, there are also people for whom basic cost of living (mostly rent) is most of their income. An example would be someone working in the valley area who doesn’t earn enough to afford to move to cheaper accommodation (along with associated increase in commuting costs). It’s not their inability to control spending, it’s the requirement to be geographically close to their place of work. If there were more jobs available in the backwoods, there would be the real possibility of moving there to reduce the cost of living to a smaller portion of income.