Whether we like it or not, there was a time that the only debt facilities available to the general public were home mortgages... Now, you can finance the purchase of an iPhone if you need to... Hell, people would save for a long time in order just to purchase a car, now anyone can go out with a few hundred dollars in their jeans and (with proof of income) finance a new vehicle.
That said, this is also one of the reasons that costs have escalated.
Sometimes I am not so sure that all this easy credit has been a good thing. Mostly because if a financial knowledge test was given the majority of the population would fail.