The distrust factor amplifies the cost of living
Sentiment not only concerns institutions, politics and science but also interpersonal relations
Key points
When reading the latest data on household consumption, the risk is to stop at the surface of the numbers. Yet today, more than ever before, the key to interpretation lies not only in economic availabilities, but in the way these are perceived. Psychological sentiment is a decisive lens: it is not just incomes or prices - albeit marked by rising energy prices and global uncertainty - that guide spending behaviour, but the emotional climate with which households look at the present and the future.
The most recent evidence shows a suspended country, more oriented towards caution than panic, but also unable to recognise signs of real improvement. In this context, consumption becomes cautious, often postponed, sometimes reduced not so much out of stringent necessity as because of a perception of vulnerability. It is a sort of 'psychological economy', where confidence - or its absence - weighs as much, if not more, than the objective variables.
The variety of families
Added to this is a profound and often underestimated transformation: the plurality of family forms. The traditional one, based on stability and intergenerational networks, is less and less representative. singles, young people but also adults after separations and divorces, are growing; reconstituted and extended families are on the rise; families with the economic support of grandparents are decreasing; cohabitations are emerging, chosen not only for affinity but also for the need to share costs.
This fragmentation changes the way people cope with the cost of living. Smaller or less structured households are often more exposed to shocks, less protected by economies of scale and support networks. At the same time, new family configurations require more sophisticated policies and analyses, capable of capturing diversified needs and less visible vulnerabilities.
Overcoming distrust
At the bottom, however, lies a deeper issue: that of trust. We live in an age marked by widespread distrust in institutions, in politics, in scientific authority. But distrust is also interpersonal. More and more individuals struggle to trust others, to build solid bonds, to plan for the long term. It is as if society were 'burnt out': an insecure and cautious attitude prevails, prompting people to protect themselves rather than expose themselves.
