l. Here it seems cultural. I rarely see people who are able to manage their money really good, most just survive.

Culture plays a big part in it for sure. Generally it seems, warmer cultures are less able to plan economically. I think it comes down to necessity. Don't plan ahead in Finland, and freeze and starve to death in the winter. Not an issue in warm countries as there is no need for great shelter, and food is plentiful (historically).

Even my father is still paying off debt because he was never smart with money, and never learned. Luckily, we had my mother, so here we are.

My parents were both terrible with money in different ways. Lessons learned are hard to relearn for me.

The situation might be getting worse, I agree - but the resistance against learning and getting your life together is not exclusive to gen Z at all.

I think this is where "necessity" has come into it. Earlier generations seemed to have less safety net to fall into. When everything is rubberised, the cost of falling is cheap, but the lesson for the need to stay upright, is never learned.