Today, nearly fifty percent of Americans are opting for cremation. In 1958 the percentage was more like twenty-eight percent. We once were more likely to embalm and bury the body. Now we are trending towards cremation. Cremation provides the family many more options and flexibility than the more “conventional” embalming. Because the industry has not offered consumers many options, the consumers now choose cremation -the option that is cost effective and offers more flexibility. Things are shifting. Even the Green Burial Council endorses cremation. A shift has occurred, and it is not necessarily a good one.
People and corporations that form the death care industry will most likely want to maintain their profits. That is natural for business. Everyone needs to put bread on the table. No one should be shocked that with the shift of Americans seeking cremation we have a shift in pricing. This is to be expected. Funeral Consumers Alliance recently released a report on cremation pricing in several parts of the US. According to the report funeral homes using a third party for cremation might price direct cremation one way and add on to the bill the fee the funeral home accrued from the third party for preforming the cremation. Make sure, if this is the way your family has decided to go, you ask about this possible pricing increase.
Cremation has shown the industry that families are not interested in what has been seen as “conventional” funerals or burials. We are an ever-changing society. We have always been a society on the move, and that is as true today as it has ever been in the past. Maybe with the shift from embalming, a more traditional and environmentally friendly burial option might also begin to change the landscape of the death care industry. It took a long time for cremation to begin change to the industry. Maybe natural burial will take as long. I hope not. I find it fascinating that cleaning and preparing the body naturally after death is still not easy to obtain for families who wish to have a simple funeral and burial. If this option is offered, often the funeral home will not “allow” an open casket, even though it is legal and science supports it. For those living in free states, they can opt out of dealing with the death care industry. For the rest of us, we need to be aware of our rights, shop around and make the best choices we can for our family.
People and corporations that form the death care industry will most likely want to maintain their profits. That is natural for business. Everyone needs to put bread on the table. No one should be shocked that with the shift of Americans seeking cremation we have a shift in pricing. This is to be expected. Funeral Consumers Alliance recently released a report on cremation pricing in several parts of the US. According to the report funeral homes using a third party for cremation might price direct cremation one way and add on to the bill the fee the funeral home accrued from the third party for preforming the cremation. Make sure, if this is the way your family has decided to go, you ask about this possible pricing increase.
Cremation has shown the industry that families are not interested in what has been seen as “conventional” funerals or burials. We are an ever-changing society. We have always been a society on the move, and that is as true today as it has ever been in the past. Maybe with the shift from embalming, a more traditional and environmentally friendly burial option might also begin to change the landscape of the death care industry. It took a long time for cremation to begin change to the industry. Maybe natural burial will take as long. I hope not. I find it fascinating that cleaning and preparing the body naturally after death is still not easy to obtain for families who wish to have a simple funeral and burial. If this option is offered, often the funeral home will not “allow” an open casket, even though it is legal and science supports it. For those living in free states, they can opt out of dealing with the death care industry. For the rest of us, we need to be aware of our rights, shop around and make the best choices we can for our family.
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