Agreed that some of it is cost of living and that the point is still valid. But, I'll also add that some of it is the high cost of education, especially college and in some places the cost of just sending kids to school. The cost of a college education has skyrocketed to the point where it costs over $20K per year just to go to a state school. Which means spending nearly $100K just to get a degree that makes you minimally qualified for a $45K per year starting job. And that's if people are lucky. Basically we are sending kids out into the workforce already in a large amount of debt for degrees that mean next to nothing.
Throw in private school for kids in places where the public schools are terrible and the cost of living is out of control. And I think that makes people feel like there is nothing they can do about their situation so they just live with being in debt and buying things that make them happy in the short term.