The Missing Middle Podcast

If $130,000 is the new poverty line… what does that make you?
In this episode of Classonomics, we tackle the viral argument that the middle class isn’t struggling — it’s being mismeasured. On paper, incomes are up and unemployment is low. So why does it feel harder than ever to afford a home, raise kids, or even stand still? We break down the hidden costs of economic participation, from housing and childcare to smartphones and “technological coercion”. We also examine the rise of the two-income trap that quietly reset the price of middle-class life. Are millennials truly worse off than their parents? Is inflation data masking reality? And was the 80s and 90s middle class partly a sitcom illusion? 
If you’ve ever felt “middle class” in theory but squeezed in practice, this episode explains why.

Chapters:
0:00 – Introduction: Welcome to Classonomics
0:39 –  Why 90s “Struggling” TV Families Look Wealthy Today
02:03 – Is $130k the New Poverty Line?
04:52 – Technological Coercion: From Luxury to Necessity
09:08 – Why Inflation Stats are Misleading: Better vs. Cheaper
11:03 – The Two-Income Trap: From Option to Obligation
14:54 – The Nostalgia Gap: Are We Remembering the 80s Correctly?
17:20 – The Reality of Generational Downward Mobility
Research links:
Part 1: My Life Is a Lie
How a Broken Benchmark Quietly Broke America
https://www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-life-is-a-lie

Cory Doctorow 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Doctorow

Hedonic adjustments
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/10/1135849519/hedonic-adjustment-how-to-measure-pleasure

Credits:
Mike Moffatt 
https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt
https://bsky.app/profile/mikepmoffatt.bsky.social

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.

Why is it so hard to make friends once you leave school? In this episode of The Missing Middle, Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt dive into the "Loneliness Epidemic" and the disappearing concept of the Third Place – those vital social hubs that aren't home (the first place) or work (the second place).

From the 1980s mall culture and bowling alleys to the modern era of "convenience-first" coffee shops and endless doomscrolling, we explore why 60% of Canadians feel disconnected from their communities. We also break down the surprising 2025 StatCan data showing that young people (15–24) are significantly lonelier than seniors.

In this episode, we discuss:

The Zoning Crisis: Why it’s literally illegal to build a walkable pub or café in most North American suburbs.

The Death of the Comfy Chair: How rising land costs forced businesses to prioritize drive-thrus over community "hangouts."

Weak Social Ties: Why interacting with people outside your "bubble" is essential for democracy, your mental health, and your career.

Practical Advice: Cara shares her (slightly terrifying) tips for meeting neighbours, and Mike discusses how rec sports saved his social life. 

Chapters:
00:00 The Connectivity Paradox: Why we’re lonelier than ever
01:40 Youth are lonelier than seniors
03:10 The "Doom Scrolling" effect on community connection
04:10 What is a "Third Place"? (And why you need one)
05:20 The power of "Weak Social Ties"
07:34 How Zoning & NIMBYism killed our local hangouts
12:18 Can Digital Communities Replace Physical Ones?
14:58 High Land Costs Make Everything Worse
17:08 Practical Advice: How to Build Community Today
20:41 The Senior Discount Problem: Why cities are ignoring youth isolation
22:10 How to Push Past Rejection & Find Your People

Research/links:

Six in Ten Canadians Surveyed Have Little or No Sense of Community, New YMCA Research Reveals
https://www.ymcagta.org/news/Six-in-Ten-Canadians-Surveyed-Have-Little-or-No-Sense-of-Community

Church Closures and the Loss of Community Social Capital
https://carleton.ca/panl/wp-content/uploads/Church-Closures-and-the-Loss-of-Community-Social-Capital-By-Don-McRae-March-2023.pdf

Where Have All the Great, Good Places Gone?: The Decline of the “Third Place”
https://www.mironline.ca/where-have-all-the-great-good-places-gone-the-decline-of-the-third-place/

Third places, true citizen spaces
https://courier.unesco.org/en/articles/third-places-true-citizen-spaces

Brands should provide “third places” to help Canadians feel connected: 
https://strategyonline.ca/2024/11/11/citizen-relations-report-third-places/

The Hidden Health Crisis: Understanding Loneliness in Canada
https://blog.theralist.ca/the-hidden-health-crisis-understanding-loneliness-in-canada/

Why your ‘weak-tie’ friendships may mean more than you think
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200701-why-your-weak-tie-friendships-may-mean-more-than-you-think

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.

The unemployment rate says everything is fine. So why does finding a job feel impossible?
Canada has added nearly 200,000 jobs and unemployment sits around 6.5%. On paper, that’s a “normal” economy. But talk to young workers, or anyone trying to switch jobs, and you’ll hear a very different story: hundreds of applications, zero callbacks, and months of silence.
In this episode of Classonomics, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt break down the hidden story behind the headlines. They explain why low unemployment can mask a frozen job market — one with fewer layoffs, fewer hires, and far fewer opportunities for people trying to get in.
If you’re a recent grad, stuck in your career, or wondering why the economy feels worse than the data suggests, this episode is for you.
Tell us in the comments: How long has your job search taken? Has it been harder than expected?

Chapters:
00:00 – Why Finding a Job in Canada Feels Impossible Right Now
01:57 – Beyond Unemployment: The Hidden Labour Market Indicators
05:28 – Why Employers Have the Upper Hand Right Now
06:12 – Global Uncertainty, Trade Tensions & Hiring Freezes
07:26 – The "Low-Hire, Low-Fire" Equilibrium Explained
10:21 – How Over-Regulation Stifles Economic Growth
13:06 – The Systemic Impact of Locking Out a Generation
14:20 – The Housing Theory of Everything

Research:
Consulting the Magic 8 Ball of Canada’s Job Market
The Job Market Is Frozen:Unemployment is low, but workers aren’t quitting and businesses aren’t hiring. What’s going on?
Canada’s shifting labour market: Recalibrating ‘breakeven employment’
Glassdoor Worklife Trends 2025
Employment by industry, monthly, seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, and trend-cycle, last 5 months (x 1,000) 1, 2, 3, 4

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.

Does having a baby mean you're officially "car-dependent"? 
In this episode of DemograFix, Cara Stern and Reece Martin, of @RMTrasit, tackle the reality of navigating Canadian cities with kids. While many parents are told that a private vehicle is the only safe or convenient way to get around, Cara and Reece explore why our transit systems often fail families – and how we can fix them.
From the "elevator roulette" at subway stations to the hidden costs of car ownership, we’re breaking down the barriers to urban parenting.
Have you ever been "trapped" at a subway station with a stroller or in a wheelchair? Let us know in the comments.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
00:44  The "Car Trap": Why parents feel forced to drive
01:38  Canadian Transit vs. the US: How do we actually rank?
03:22 The Stroller Struggle: Accessibility "on paper" vs. reality
08:47 A Tale of Two Cities: Toronto, Montreal, and the elevator gap
13:11 Reece on the GoTrain accessibility car
15:50 The Hidden Cost: Is owning a car costing you a second child?
19:45 Policy solutions for family friendly transit
25:02 Why free transit for kids is a game changer
28:15 The problem with busses
29:48 Teens and Transit: How free fares encourages a healthier lifestyle
33:15  Making cities livable for the next generation

Research/links:
Studies on impact on free fares on active transportation for teens
https://www.getonthebus.ca/resources

Transit Use by Children and Adolescents: An Overlooked Source of and Opportunity for Physical Activity? - PMC
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5502534/

Engaging students to increase public transit ridership A guide for using city–school partnership to inspire youth to choose sustainable transportation.
https://greenmunicipalfund.ca/sites/default/files/documents/resources/guide/guidebook-engaging-students-to-increase-public-transit-ridership-gmf.pdf

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.

Your 20s: risky bets, crypto hype, and meme stocks. 🎲 Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt explain why being priced out of a home is turning saving into gambling — and why young men are taking the biggest swings.
In this episode of The Missing Middle – Classonomics, we unpack why a generation priced out of housing is turning to meme stocks, crypto, and online sports betting instead of traditional saving. Mike and Sabrina explore how the “gamification” of investing on your phone blurs the line between investing and gambling, why young men dominate high-risk trading, and what research tells us about the link between gambling, crypto, and financial stress. 
The conversation introduces the idea of “financial nihilism” — when homeownership feels impossible, big bets can start to seem rational. They also debate solutions, from tighter gambling advertising rules to better financial education and, most importantly, fixing housing affordability. Is this risky behavior a cultural problem, a policy failure, or both? Watch to find out — and tell us in the comments if you’ve ever placed a big bet with your money.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:10 The high-risk landscape
02:15 Personal experience with risk
03:00 Demographics of gamblers and investors
04:35 Gambling vs investing
05:30 The Risks of sports gambling & prediction markets
06:52 The difference between zero-sum and negative-sum behaviour
08:53 The link between gambling & crypto trading
11:01 How the culture of gambling is hurting young men
12:22 How the housing crisis leads to financial nihilism
14:22 How big risks start to become rational choices
15:38 The role of social media 
16:24 YOLO spending and the gendered aspect of risky bets
17:50 Mike drops a hockey metaphor
19:23 Solutions: Regulation, education and home ownership

Research: 

Canada Is Finally Regulating Stablecoins – Here’s Why It Matters
Cryptocurrency trading, gambling and problem gambling
"Giving Up": The Impact of Decreasing Housing Affordability on Consumption, Work Effort, and Investment
Newsletter Sabrina mentions:
1 big thing: Gen Z plays the economy like a casino
Are We Ignoring a Generation of Struggling Young Men?
All Bets Are On: The Rise of Prediction Markets
The Doom Spenders
polymarket.com Website Traffic Demographics
Gambling Statistics Canada 2026 – Unveiling Canada’s Gambling Landscape

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.