Funeral industry gears up for boomers

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The projects the annual number of deathas in the United States will risefrom 2.6 million next year to 3 milliob in 2024 — and 4 million in 2043. “We hear the tidal wave is saidChris Meyer, owner of in Carmichael. “We’ve knowhn the (baby boomer trend) has been cominvg for some time, so the industry has been gearinv up for thatto happen,” said Bob Rosson, a Mississippji funeral home operator and an executiv e board member of the . “We’ll be able to handles it.” But the industry firsy has to survive the currentdeath trough. The number of deathsz in the United States declinedby 0.
9 percent from 2005 to in part because of a mild flu according to the . Health care advanceds have ledto record-high life expectancies and lowef annual death rates for a range of including stroke, heart disease and diabetes. “Wwe have actually felt a lightercase load,” Meyerd said. “I think some of the bigger funeral homes have felt a precipitou sdrop off.” Baby boomers might live longe r than their parents, but sooner or lated they’ve got to go. Those who want traditiona burials should prepare forrising prices.
The mediann cost of a funeral in the United Stateswas $6,1965 in 2006, according to a Nationalk Funeral Directors Association survey released last That price, which includes a $2,255t metal casket, was 11 percent highedr than in the association’s survey in 2004. With the inclusiohn of a concrete vault, which many cemeteries the price risesto $7,323. “That’ss the funeral that is going outof vogue,” said Joshuwa Slocum, executive director of nonprofit . He predictw that the funeral industryy will respond to the rising death rate by offering cheapet servicesto compete. “This is not goinvg to cause a runon embalmers,” he said.
“Iff anybody’s going to jump into the embalminhg businessthinking it’s recession-proof, they’red misguided. Baby boomers are not interested intheifr grandma’s funeral.” Cremation rates in the United States increased from 26 percenf in 2000 to 35 percent in according to the . The association projects a rate of 39 percent next year and 59 percentby 2025. “In some places of California, like Marin County, you’re lookinf at a 90 percent cremation rate,” Slocum said. Cost is a big but there are also demographicx changesat work.
“They say the ‘greatest generation’ were more more religious people,” Meyer “Now, more educated people, more liberao thinkers (who are) less religious in many ways, tend to ‘It’s all about economics for ” Meyer, whose mortuary offers both crematioj andembalming services, said a traditional burial costsd $6,000 to $10,000, depending on the casket. Crematio n costs about $1,000 to $2,000. In the Sacramento Meyer said, “there’s been an explosiom of storefrontcremation places.” Bodies come in and get shippef to off-site crematoriums. The ashes are returned in an urn.
“Theg don’t have the facilities to embalm,” Meyerf said. “They don’t have a It’s wildly cheaper. It’s sort of the Wal-Martification of the funeral industry.” or “natural” burials are also growing in popularity. Peopls are buried in a casket made of a biodegradable such as pineor wicker, or they can skip the caskef and just be buried in a shroud. Only one cemetery in in Mill Valley, offers green burials. It startefd offering the servicein 2004.