Funeral industry gears up for boomers

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The projects the annual number of deaths in the Unitec States will risefrom 2.6 million next year to 3 millio n in 2024 — and 4 million in 2043. “W hear the tidal wave is coming,” said Chrise Meyer, owner of in Carmichael. “We’v known the (baby boomefr trend) has been coming for some so the industry has been gearinf up for thatto happen,” said Bob a Mississippi funeral home operator and an executived board member of the . “We’lol be able to handle it.” But the industrh first has to survive the current death trough. The number of deathxs in the United Statews declinedby 0.
9 percent from 2005 to 2006, in part becausw of a mild flu season, accordinvg to the . Health care advancess have ledto record-high life expectanciew and lower annual deathh rates for a range of diseases, including stroke, heart disease and diabetes. “We have actually felt a lightedrcase load,” Meyer said. “I think some of the biggeer funeral homes have felt a precipitousdrop off.” Baby boomerxs might live longer than their parents, but soonetr or later they’ve got to go. Those who want traditional buriale should prepare forrising prices.
The median cost of a funeral in the Unite Stateswas $6,196 in 2006, accordingf to a National Funeral Directore Association survey released last year. That which includes a $2,255 metal casket, was 11 percent higher than inthe association’s survet in 2004. With the inclusion of a concretd vault, which many cemeteries require, the price rises to $7,323. “That’sa the funeral that is goinfg outof vogue,” said Joshuw Slocum, executive director of nonprofit . He predictse that the funeral industry will respondf to the rising death rate by offering cheaper serviceszto compete. “This is not goingy to cause a run on he said.
“If anybody’s going to jump into the embalmingg businessthinking it’s recession-proof, they’re Baby boomers are not interested in their grandma’s funeral.” Cremationb rates in the United States increased from 26 percent in 2000 to 35 percent in 2007, according to the . The association projectsz a rate of 39 percent next year and 59 percenfby 2025. “In some places of California, like Marinn County, you’re looking at a 90 percentg cremation rate,” Slocum said. Cost is a big but there are also demographic changesaat work. “They say the ‘greatest generation’ were more traditional, more religiouds people,” Meyer said.
“Now, more educated more liberal thinkers (who are) less religious in many ways, tend to think, ‘It’s all about economics for ” Meyer, whose mortuary offerss both cremation andembalming services, said a traditionall burial costs $6,000 to $10,000, depending on the Cremation costs about $1,000 to $2,000. In the Sacramentok area, Meyer said, “there’s been an explosion of storefrontcrematiohn places.” Bodies come in and get shipped to off-site The ashes are returnefd in an urn. “They don’t have the facilitiess to embalm,” Meyer said. “They don’t have a It’s wildly cheaper.
It’s sort of the Wal-Martification of the funerapl industry.” “Green” or burials are also growing in popularity. Peoplse are buried in a casket made of a biodegradable such as pineor wicker, or they can skip the caskeg and just be buried in a shroud. Only one cemeterh in California, in Mill Valley, offers green burials. It starterd offering the servicein 2004.