Living from one payday to another: The new involuntary prison

There was a time when financial hardship had a face. It was associated with unemployment, low wages or struggling businesses. Today, however, financial pressure has become the great equaliser.

It cuts across income levels, professions, and social classes. The casual labourer feels it. The salaried employee feels it. The entrepreneur feels it. The trader in Gikomba feels it. Even corporate executives and successful business owners are not immune.

The common denominator is simple: everyone is waiting for the next payment. The worker waits for the month-end salary. The trader waits for the next customer.

The supplier is waiting for the next cheque. The contractor waits for the next certificate payment. The business owner waits for the next sale. Different sources of income, but the same underlying anxiety.

The assumption has always been that earning more money automatically solves financial stress. Yet experience tells us otherwise. Financial pressure is no longer determined solely by income. In many cases, it is determined by the relationship between income and obligations.

Millions of Kenyans today wake up every day carrying financial commitments that must be met regardless of whether cash has arrived. Rent is due. School fees must be paid.

Suppliers expect settlement. Loan repayments cannot wait. Employees expect salaries. Utility providers demand payment.

The result is a growing population of hardworking individuals and businesses that are constantly generating income but rarely experiencing financial freedom.

For some, the challenge is insufficient income. For others, it is the burden of commitments accumulated over time. As earnings rise, expectations often rise even faster.

Better housing, better schools, larger businesses, additional loans, and higher lifestyles create obligations that quietly consume future income before it arrives.

We have become increasingly focused on earning money, yet less intentional about retaining it. We celebrate income growth but often neglect financial resilience.

We measure success through consumption rather than sustainability. Perhaps that explains why so many people feel trapped despite working harder than ever before.

True financial freedom is not achieved when one’s income increases. It is achieved when dependence on the next payment decreases. The wealthiest individual is not necessarily the one with the highest income.

It is often the one with the greatest ability to withstand financial shocks without immediately needing another inflow of cash.

As households and businesses navigate an increasingly demanding economic environment, the conversation should move beyond how much money we make and focus on how much financial breathing room we create.

This is because the most dangerous prison is not made of concrete and steel; It is the one where every shilling you are yet to earn has already been spent, and for far too many people.

That prison is called “Payday to Payday.” Not all the pressure comes from outside, but we internally construct much of it. So, two prisons hold us at once.

-The writer is a Certified Public Accountant and the founder of Marathon Debt Recovery Ltd