Paradoxically, this has lead to their downfall.
“First, we need to reiterate that a ‘poor’ spartiate was still quite well off compared to the average citizen in many Greek poleis – we talk about ‘poor’ spartiates the same way we talk about the ‘poor’ gentry in a Jane Austen novel. None of them are actually poor in an absolute sense, they are only poor in the sense that they are the poorest of the rich, clinging to the bottom rung of the upper class.”
https://acoup.blog/2019/09/05/collections-this-isnt-sparta-part-iv-spartan-wealth/