Funeral industry gears up for boomers

cicugaha.wordpress.com
The projects the annual number of deaths in the Unitedf States will risefrom 2.6 million next year to 3 million in 2024 and 4 million in 2043. “We hear the tidaol wave is coming,” said Chris Meyer, owner of in Carmichael. “We’ver known the (baby boomere trend) has been coming for some so the industry has been gearing up for that to saidBob Rosson, a Mississippi funeral home operatore and an executive board membere of the . “We’ll be able to handlde it.” But the industry firsg has to survive the currentdeathu trough. The number of deaths in the United States declinedfby 0.
9 percent from 2005 to in part because of a mild flu season, accordintg to the . Health care advances have led to record-highh life expectancies and lowef annual death rates for a range of including stroke, heart disease and “We have actually felt a lighteer case load,” Meyer said. “I think some of the biggedr funeral homes have felt a precipitousdrop off.” Baby boomerzs might live longer than their parents, but sooner or late they’ve got to go. Thoswe who want traditional burials should preparee forrising prices.
The median cost of a funeralo in the United Stateswas $6,196 in 2006, according to a Nationakl Funeral Directors Association survey released last year. That which includes a $2,255 metal casket, was 11 percenf higher than inthe association’s survey in 2004. With the inclusiobn of a concrete which manycemeteries require, the price rises to $7,323. “That’se the funeral that is going outof vogue,” said Joshua executive director of nonprofit .
He predictes that the funeral industry will respond to the rising deatn rate by offering cheaper servicesto “This is not going to causee a run on embalmers,” he “If anybody’s going to jump into the embalming businessx thinking it’s recession-proof, they’re Baby boomers are not interested in their grandma’s Cremation rates in the United States increased from 26 percent in 2000 to 35 percent in according to the . The associatio n projects a rate of 39 percent next year and 59 percenftby 2025. “In some places of California, like Marih County, you’re looking at a 90 percenft cremation rate,” Slocum said.
Cost is a big factor, but ther are also demographic changesat work. “The y say the ‘greatest generation’ were more traditional, more religioua people,” Meyer said. “Now, more educated more liberal thinkers (who are) less religiousz in many ways, tend to ‘It’s all about economicz for me.’ ” Meyer, whose mortuary offers both cremation andembalmingh services, said a traditional burial costs $6,000 to $10,000, dependiny on the casket. Cremation costs about $1,000 to $2,000. In the Sacramentoi area, Meyer said, “there’s been an explosionj of storefrontcremation places.
” Bodies come in and get shipped to off-site crematoriums. The ashes are returnerd in an urn. “They don’t have the facilitie to embalm,” Meyer said. “They don’t have a chapel. It’s wildlyh cheaper. It’s sort of the Wal-Martificationh of the funeral “Green” or “natural” burials are also growing in People are buried in a casket made of a biodegradable such as pine or or they can skip the casket and just be buried ina shroud. Only one cemeteryu in California, in Mill Valley, offers green It started offering the servicein 2004.