As far as anecdotes, I do know folks who grew up in poverty and either went into debt buying for others or themselves to get a stake of the claim. It’s a symptom of especially the lower-middle class according to the classic “Class” text i have at home – forget the author.

Ah materialism. As for me, overspending was my way of falsely expressing the assumed social identity i had after getting my degrees- i was still underemployed but needed to feel as if i was among the professional class.

But, this study explains the 50’s and 90’s quite well. I think the women’s issue is more complex. Sometimes instead of overspending a woman will just cut her hair- a few friends of mine were working on an oral history anthology about that.