I feel like the biggest issue here is that being debt-free isn't considered proving your responsibility with money/credit. Credit score will favor someone with 3 mortgages and 5 car loans over someone with none of these (assuming paid on time, etc). It's worse because credit score is considered for much more than debt these days, it's a stand-in "responsibility score." What else can you really expect when it's lenders that come up with it? They're incentivizing using their business.
Underbanked communities and populations are also an important issue; although this article was mainly about credit, there are other costs to those who don't have a bank account for whatever reason (inconvenient location, lack of education about the benefits, lack of trust, no SSN, or of course being banned).
http://business.time.com/2012/11/20/why-so-many-americans-dont-have-bank-accounts/I have a hard time faulting this family on much. Except maybe not realizing the importance of managing their credit score (in 2000!) or their apparent inabilty to resist temptation in their youth in order to do so. But nobody expects a debilitating or expensive illness in their family, much less two, and it's not like they were in particularly lucrative fields. Even if they had savings, they may have been drained by medical bills and related costs. $40k/year doesn't seem like a lot for a family of 4, and if the dad can't work his contributions around the house might be limited, too, so it's not even like they're getting all the benefits of a stay at home parent. I feel bad for Mrs. Kimmel. She must have a mountain on her shoulders.
