The crisis of the middle class in Italy, between economic problems, emotional distress and a sense of loneliness

Italians are increasingly poor, increasingly alone, increasingly vulnerable. The data released by Ipsos in the FragilItalia 2026 survey, carried out for Legacoop, are worrying. Merciless numbers that reveal a progressive disappearance of the middle class and a widespread worsening of the social scale.

The phenomenon is known as "de-middle class": in the survey, 54% of those interviewed are below the middle class, with 34% of them defining themselves as "falling". On the other hand, only 7% have improved their position. And, compared to five years ago, over two out of three Italians feel more economically fragile. “These numbers tell us that we need to change the way we look at poverty,” says the president of Legacoop, Simone Gamberini. "It no longer only concerns those on the margins. The problem is spreading and concerns a growing part of society who work, have a home, build a family, but feel their security is progressively reduced. It is a poverty of income, certainly, but also of opportunities, of relationships and, above all, of the future".

The analysis finds that one in four Italians has difficulty making ends meet. This also has a significant impact on essential needs: 19% find themselves forced to give up necessary expenses and 17% would not be able to support a sudden expense of 600 euros. 26% have given up medical or dental care for economic reasons, a percentage that rises to 57% in the working class. In 29% of cases, car or home maintenance is also neglected, while the purchase of clothes and footwear was postponed by 22% of those interviewed. The difficulties, especially in the most economically fragile strata of the population, also extend to choices relating to the variety and quality of food, which are reduced in 23% of cases.

However, the issue does not just stop at the material side, but also involves the emotional sphere. Starting from the lack of sociability, a problem felt by 24% of those interviewed: specifically, 23% declare that they have "felt alone" in the last year. After economic difficulties, in fact, the most widespread conditions of hardship are those relating to a sense of emptiness or lack of prospects (21%), access to healthcare (19%) and loneliness (15%).

As the president of Legacoop underlines, "the fact that needs to question us the most is perhaps precisely this intertwining of economic fragility and social fragility. When purchasing power, access to care, housing security, relationships and confidence in the future decrease at the same time, we are not faced with a sum of individual problems. We are faced with an issue that concerns the country's development model".

With these premises, poverty can no longer be framed as a static condition, but risks becoming a worryingly widespread prospect of social decline. It therefore becomes understandable that, especially among the working classes (48%), there is a real fear that their children are condemned to an even worse future. The answer, as Gamberini explains, cannot only be of a welfare nature: "We need to rebuild conditions that allow people to go back to planning their own future: decent work, accessible housing, health, services, community and the possibility of participating. It is on this ground that cooperation can make a contribution to the country: in fact it is no longer just income poverty. It is a progressive loss of security, relationships and trust in the future. The country must react".

And he concludes: "We don't just need short-term solutions in view of the electoral deadlines. Let's get the Pact for Italy that we launched a few days ago during our Biennial of Cooperative Economy off the ground."