As 2026 approaches its midpoint, consumers remain financially optimistic despite persistent affordability challenges that have been heightened by recent geopolitical events. TransUnion’s Q2 2026 Consumer Pulse study found that 55% of consumers are optimistic about their household finances over the next 12 months, unchanged from last year. Financial pessimism declined to 23%, down from an all-time high of 27% in Q2 2025. The findings are based on a survey of 2,996 U.S. adults conducted between April 23 and May 11, 2026.
The youngest generations are leading the way in optimism with nearly seven in 10 (68%) Gen Z consumers and 63% of Millennials optimistic about their future finances. Baby Boomers remain the most pessimistic generation at 28%, though they also experienced the greatest YoY drop from 36% in Q2 2025.
“Affordability has become the defining issue shaping consumer finances today, yet consumers remain remarkably resilient,” said Charlie Wise, head of global research and consulting at TransUnion. “Against a backdrop of ongoing pressure from inflation and higher everyday expenses such as filling up their gas tanks or dining out, consumers remain optimistic about their future finances and are less pessimistic than a year ago. Steady, low unemployment is supporting that confidence, even as wage gains are partially offset by higher prices.”
Even as a majority of consumers remain optimistic about future finances, inflation continues to be the dominant pressure on household finances. More than eight in 10 (83%) consumers ranked it among their top three household financial concerns, up two percentage points from a year ago. Recession fears ranked second at 51%, followed by interest rates and housing prices (rent or mortgage), which were both at 42%. While all generations cited inflation as a top concern, Gen X and Baby Boomers reported higher levels of concern than younger consumers.
Elevated inflation continues to shape consumer concerns. Across 13 spending categories, 80% of consumers ranked grocery prices as the top concern when it came to price increases, down slightly from 81% a year ago. Concern about gas price increases shows the greatest rise, up to 71% from 37% in Q1 2026 and 49% a year earlier.
Consumers also report declining affordability across key spending categories. When asked to rate spend categories by most to least affordable, they cited gas (54%), travel-related purchases (48%) and dining out (45%) as the least affordable. Gen X consumers feel this pressure most acutely. Over the past three months, Gen X chose unaffordable more than any generation for every single purchase type. Interestingly, younger generations – Gen Z and Millennials – generally reported higher levels of affordability for most spend categories relative to older generations – Gen X and Baby Boomers.
In light of their higher affordability concerns, it is not surprising that just 63% of Gen X said their household finances were as planned or better at this point in the year, compared to 74% for Gen Z and 71% of Millennials. “Several factors likely contribute to Gen X affordability angst, particularly the ‘sandwich generation’ dynamic of supporting children while caring for aging parents, which may put greater strain on their household budgets,” added Wise.
