There is an old joke: What is the difference between a recession and a depression? A recession is when your neighbor is out of work. A depression is when you are out of work. In this recession there is another sign in addition to unemployment – it is the amount of unclaimed dead being stored at the county morgue.
There are a lot of great people in the funeral industry. Funeral Directors, embalmers, grave diggers, salespeople, accounting, legal and support people are mostly fine upstanding citizens who take pride in their work and the services they provide to customers.
Changing views have led to a major increase in the number of cremations in America’s Bible Belt according to funeral home information. And, apparently, it is not just based on the recession or costs.
Angelina Jolie is said to have told people that she wanted to be a funeral director when she was young. She apparently has a perspective on death that is very different than what her currently adoring public would have imagined.
There are many ways to save for a funeral. It can come from family savings or from a pre-paid funeral contract bought from a local funeral home or association. Some insurance companies also sell burial insurance policies; and, you can usually purchase a life insurance policy in an amount that exceeds the cost of an average funeral at today’s cost to make sure there are enough funds available at a future date.
There’s a lot of talk about reforming our healthcare system to make it universal and affordable. Universal so that everyone has access to quality medical care and affordable so that everyone is covered by a medical plan that is within the means of the average person and the lowest income (or no income) person.
It seems that most of the articles I read about cremation in the US have the cost angle as the main reason people choose cremation over burial. A closer look at cremation reveals that there are many other reasons for choosing it over burial.
The scandal at Burr Oak cemetery in Alsip, Illinois occurred because of greed, lack of morals and terrible management. Cemetery plots were resold even though someone was already buried there. But this should not be confused with the legitimate reselling of cemetery plots.
In the last few decades a change started in the way funerals are handled and that change is becoming a major cultural shift. Cremations in the US are expected to rise to 50 percent by 2025; green burials are becoming a trend in Europe and making a change in the US; home funerals are coming full circle as people are looking at this as a personalized and low cost option to traditional funeral homes and services; and, the roles of the funeral director and pastor are being changed and eliminated as families take a larger role in the process and celebrants are hired to plan and preside over the funeral.
I am constantly reading trends in the funeral industry and I’m also a registered member of several online forums that discuss end of life issues. One thing is very evident to me. There is a shift in the way people want to be disposed and in the way families want to handle funeral services.
