Utah and Bankruptcy

I've been fascinated for a while now with the statistic that Utah is among the nation's leaders in bankruptcy filings per capita and has been for a long time. The source of my fascination may be just because Church leaders have been pushing Church members to avoid debt and live within our means for over a hundred years now, so it would seem like Utah should be near the bottom of the list (similar to drunk driving or abortions, for example). But the statistics don't lie. (Well...these statistics don't) 30-40% of the state's population are non-Mormon, of course, so you can't just directly relate Utah statistics with church members, but you can't blame the problem on the non-member population either...

Anyway, I've been researching the issue myself, and if you share my fascination, here and here are two articles from Zion's Bank analyzing the cultural issues that lead to a high bankruptcy rate; the best I've found so far. The key issues are younger population in Utah, larger families (necessitating buying larger cars and houses), and the fact that contributions such as tithing or missionary support aren't taken into account when extending credit. Many women in the church never finish their degrees before or after marriage, which also becomes a factor in the case of their husband's death or divorce and they are forced to support a family on their own. (Church leaders for years now have also encouraged all women to earn a degree and prepare for a career even if they never need it, but I digress...) The main cause, though, seems to be 'biting off more than one can chew' financially--a common mistake for people of all ages and religions. The problem becomes worse in Utah because it's more socially acceptable to marry young and have many kids and many people do so without considering the financial consequences.

Anti-Mormon groups frequently use bankruptcy statistics as an attack against the Church, of course, although it doesn't really make a lot of sense to do so. (Wait...'sense' has nothing to do with it, does it?) How the bankruptcy rate demonstrates the truth or untruth of Church doctrine is one question, but how can you use financial irresponsibility against the Church when Church leaders repeatedly tell church members all the time not to do it? Are they attacking Church members as hypocrites? (wouldn't that imply the Church doctrine itself is correct?) Or are they attacking Church doctrine--which doesn't make sense either because it's the not following of the doctrine that leads to the bankruptcy...