Jun 15, 2026
For generations, being middle class meant believing that hard work would eventually pay off in the form of financial security. Today, many Americans feel they’ve held up their end of the bargain, but said security never arrived.
Researchers call these people the “conflicted middle” — folks who appear financially stable on paper, but still worry about whether they’ll be able to weather the next emergency. A survey from Edward Jones and Gallup found that 51% of U.S. adults fall into this category, caught between stability and uncertainty.
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“We’re, like, ‘Oh, my God, what if we have an emergency?’” Nicholas Wallace, a 34-year-old plastics manufacturer, told The Wall Street Journal. “Are we going to be able to stand up from that?’”
Here’s why Americans are feeling stuck between financial stability and financial security.
Who makes up the conflicted middle?
Wallace checks many of the boxes traditionally associated with financial stability. He has a full-time job, health insurance and a retirement account, and he and his wife bring in about $90,000 a year living in Madison, Wisconsin.
But like many Americans, rising costs have left him looking for ways to stretch his budget. To help bring in extra income, he recently took a second job answering calls at a veterinary clinic.
The rising cost of groceries has also changed some of the family’s spending habits. In the past, Wallace would buy beef from a local farm and freeze it for future meals. The couple decided against it after the price of their order jumped by nearly $400. Instead, Wallace said they now spend more time looking for deals at local grocery stores.
While inflation has cooled from its pandemic-era highs, grocery prices remain significantly above where they were just a few years ago. According to inflation data, food-at-home prices have risen roughly 28% since the end of 2019, with beef prices among the categories seeing some of the steepest increases.
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Wendy Molyneux, a certified financial education instructor and author of Financial Trauma: Why Money Isn’t Just About Money, told Moneywise that many households are experiencing what she calls “ambient financial strain” — a constant background pressure that develops when the economy moves faster than household budgets can adapt.
“Many middle-class families are caught in a confusing position,” she said. “Even households that are earning decent incomes often feel as though they’re running just to stay in place.”
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Doing everything right
One of the defining characteristics of the conflicted middle is that financial stress isn’t necessarily tied to financial crisis.
“Financial stress isn’t limited to people in crisis—it’s affecting millions who appear stable but don’t feel secure or fulfilled,”Penny Pennington, managing partner at Edward Jones, said in the report.
The report defines financial fulfillment as feeling like your finances support the life you actually want to live — whether that’s spending more time with family, pursuing personal goals or feeling confident about the future.
For many Americans, fulfillment isn’t tied to luxury. One 31-year-old survey respondent described it as having enough money for “family outings, whether that be just to get some ice cream or a full vacation.”
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That disconnect can be especially frustrating because they’ve done many of the things traditionally associated with financial success.
“Many people were taught that working hard, getting an education, and managing money responsibly would lead to financial peace of mind,” Molyneux said. “When they follow that formula and still feel stressed, they often assume they’ve done something wrong. In reality, many of the pressures they’re experiencing are larger than any one household.”
Part of that stress comes from trying to balance today’s financial realities with tomorrow’s goals. Pennington said many Americans are thinking not only about their current expenses, but also about their children’s future, retirement and other long-term plans and what it will take to make those goals a reality.
What to do if you’re feeling financially conflicted
Molyneux said one of the most important steps is recognizing that financial stress isn’t always a reflection of personal failure.
“When people recognize that a lot of their stress reflects structural challenges rather than personal failure, they’re often able to make clearer financial decisions and focus on building practical forms of resilience rather than chasing an idealized version of financial security,” she said.
That resilience can take many forms. Financial experts often recommend focusing on the factors within your control, such as building an emergency fund, reducing high-interest debt and creating a buffer for unexpected expenses. While those steps may not eliminate every financial challenge, they can help households navigate periods of uncertainty with greater confidence.
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Victoria Vesovski is a Toronto-based staff reporter at Moneywise covering personal finance, lifestyle and trending news. She holds degrees from the University of Toronto and New York University, and her work has appeared on platforms including Yahoo Finance, MSN Money and Apple News.
