It may not be a medical condition at all but it is still as feared as any other epidemic. It is normally dormant for most of the year but has an annual outbreak at the start of each year. No wonder why it is now commonly known as the dreaded January Disease!
As I have already alluded to it, the January Disease is neither clinical nor a medical in nature but it is in essence, a socio-economical phenomenon. As such, no amount of immunisation or vaccination can ever be able to prevent the disease from having its dreaded yearly wave of social upheaval and utter mayhem.
The origins of the dreaded January Disease concept are unknown. There is virtually no research that has been conducted to date to try and ascertain the concept’s origins.
However what is more commonly known are the possible reasons why at every start of each new year there is always a serious outbreak of this dreaded disease.
There may be several factors that influence the outbreak of the January Disease but there are at least three obvious reasons that can be easily ascertained.
Firstly, during the month of December, most employees normally get paid at least a week or two earlier than usual. In fact in most cases, salaries are normally paid out on or just before mid-December. This then creates an anomalous situation in which the period up to the next salary at the end of January is extended by about two weeks. As such it thus so happens, that it is only at this time of the year that the waiting period up to the next salary date is a bit longer than usual.
For those who get paid under a wages system, the period is also lengthened by the mere fact that most industries have their general annual shutdown from about mid-December till mid-January. This then automatically disrupts the rhythm of the regular weekly or bi-weekly income and expenditure system for the employees.
The second and perhaps the most influential reason is the high level of consumerism that affects society during the Christmas festive break. It is now a time honoured tradition that Christmas is a time of excessive celebrations that induce society to incur a lot of unbudgeted expenses especially at a retail level.
Traditionally, consumers indulge in impulsive expenditure during this festive period more than in any other time of the year. In fact most retailers now assume that December should always have the highest number of sales more than any other month of the year.
Unfortunately the excessive expenditure that occurs during the festive season also means that financial discipline is also thrown out of the window. Most people find themselves ignoring the obvious demands of their regular monthly payments. As such, by the start of the year, most people always wake up to the awful reality of unpaid bills and instalments.
The third reason is somewhat related to the preceding one. During the festive mood of December, a lot of people do their best to forget that when January arrives, it will bring with it some irregular expenses related to a completely new school calendar year. When schools reopen in mid-January, expenditure is normally higher that during the rest of the year.
Apart from the regular school fees, there are usually a lot of other expenses such as stationery, new uniforms and sports attire, among others that are required for the learners.
It is therefore by reason of the foregoing, among other factors that lead to a lot of budgetary shortfalls and cash-flow problems almost always for the majority of the people at the start of the year.
The recurrence of this very difficult period of financial hardships is now commonly known as the dreaded January Disease.
But then, the big question is whether there is any antidote that can be used against this exceptional disease?
It seems a lot of people suffering from the January Disease in their desperation have mistakenly assumed that the easy way out of the whole difficulty is to get a short term loan from the micro finance service providers who are otherwise also known as the loan sharks or ‘omatshonisa”.
They are a very popular option since they have very user friendly and highly flexible conditions for anyone who would like a quick loan. They also normally operate without much paperwork. This is a big pull factor especially when one considers the complicated bureaucratic loan application approval process that commercial banks also insist upon.
Unfortunately, there is always a big catch in this quick fix solution. The loan providers normally have a high interest rate and also demand some furniture items as part of their guarantee for the loan. They also normally increase the interest rates unilaterally especially if one defaults in their loan repayments process. At the end of the day, they often find themselves embroiled in a crippling debt trap that also ensures that they spend the rest of the year struggling to wiggle out of the vicious debt cycle process.
Others normally go for an overdraft option at the bank. This is a simple short term solution that for most people soon becomes a long term burden since most people always struggle to return their bank account to its normal condition of service.
Some use their credit cards to pay themselves out of the immediate expenses. But this then also means that they would also be digging themselves deeper into the debt hole.
Others also apply for some salary advance payments from their employers. This also affects their ability to pay their regular monthly expenses at the end of January and the resultant domino effect also affects their income for the rest of the year.
So after all has been said and done, is there any real hope for a more practical solution to this annual problem?
Yes.
There could be a partial solution that can go a long way into resolving the perennial problems of the dreaded January Disease. Well, sort of!
The answer may actually lie in the concept of the annual 13th cheque that is popularly known as the ‘bonus’. It is proposed that instead of paying out the bonus during November or December as often is the tradition, employers must delay the payment process till after the 10th of January.
This will ensure that for most people, the reality of their capacity to expend will not be blurred by the vision of the extra money that is normally deposited into their accounts in December. It could also help to tone down the high level of excessive consumerism during the festive break.
It would also mean that come mid-January when the whole Christmas spending spree madness has finally subsided, most people will still people be able to get the bonus and use it to cover the family related expenses especially at the start of the new school year.
But then, there are those who work for employers who do not have the bonus option at the end of the year. What then is the possible solution for such cases? It is proposed that every January, they must be given an option to join a special Christmas savings scheme that banks could provide via their own employers.
This would mean that during the course of the year, the banks will be effecting some monthly deduction on their salaries. The money will then be deposited into special high interest yielding savings accounts. At the start of the next year, the banks will then give the clients the option to withdraw the exact amount that may be needed to cover their expenses in January.
Any money left over from the mid-January expenditure would automatically be part of the initial savings for that year. This will thus ensure that come every January of each year, there are fewer and fewer employees who found themselves exposed to the January Disease.
Perhaps then, it might also mean the end of this problematic phenomenon known as the January Disease once and for all. Well, sort of!
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