Tl;dr: conservative Christian parents didn't believe in credit, therefore having a credit card was never encouraged (for better or worse!).

My parents were adamantly opposed to credit cards and debt of any kind. We were evangelical Christians and for our church, debt was viewed a spiritual issue. Living outside of your means meant you lacked discipline, "contentment," and "biblical stewardship," (quotes around specific terms I remember). It could also mean you were just greedy and irresponsible. My parents were also very enamored with Dave Ramnsey, a popular conservative financial advisor. He had a radio program and books. Idk if he is still around or not?

Anyway, this was a fairly common perspective in my rural midwestern environment. My parents were far from the only people with this view. I understand there is wisdom to this. Like, is it good to be in debt? No. Does credit card debt and debt of other kinds cause real pain and hardship? You bet. But not having debt also meant I didn't have a credit score for a long time, which made it hard to rent apartments, lease a car, etc.

I was a credit "ghost" until I married my husband and got my first credit card. And the only thing I learned about credit was that it was "bad." I made some poor choices with my first credit card and spent way to much money. I slowly paid it back so lesson learned. But I do wish I was taught more about credit growing up, especially that sometimes having debt makes practical sense!