Many families struggle to meet funeral costs and grants do not cover basic funeral costs

January 9, 2015

Many New Zealand families struggle to meet the funeral costs and grants do not cover the cost of the most basic funeral, a University of Canterbury bereavement expert says

Senior sociology lecturer Dr Ruth McManus has undertaken ground breaking, externally funded research on poverty and funerals in New Zealand.

She says the process of getting grants is overly complicated and adds to the stress of the bereaved.

People have to make do and that can involve going into debt formally such as on their credit card orinformally to family and friends.

“Those who go into funeral debt are not always those on the poverty line. People and families strapped for cash are more likely to do as much of the preparation work themselves and as informally as they can,” Dr McManus says.

“Funeral directors are willing to help customers achieve a good funeral without bursting the bank. We are seeing an increase in DIY funerals and no funerals for those reasons even though this may not be how the bereaved want to send off their loved ones”.

“On an annual basis, we estimate that about 2800 New Zealanders could feasibly experience financial hardship over the costs of a funeral. Though it is a small number relative to the overall population, it’s important to recognise that financial hardship is concentrated in vulnerable groups in New Zealand that include for instance the old, especially elderly women, and those who are experiencing difficult life events such as illness and unemployment.

“Government administrated and means tested funeral grants are available through Work and Income New Zealand and ACC. Organisations like the Returned Services Association and Lions Clubs informally help out at times for memorials for veterans and also sometimes for repatriation of remains’ costs.”

Dr McManus says the average cost of a basic funeral in 2008 was $6500. Funeral grants were about $1760. Today basic funerals cost about $7500 and the maximum funeral grant is almost $2000.

She has focused her research on people’s attitudes to funerals as a means to raise research and general public discussion about the issues associated with the cost of funerals.

Her work also blows apart the myth that poorer people make more ill-informed financial decisions when it comes to arranging a funeral.

“My recent internationally published research explores and explains behaviour and decision-making associated with funerals and finances. I also looked into emerging green technologies for disposing of bodies after death”. I investigated the growing interest in sustainable funerals and while it is easy to presume that green burial grounds are sustainable and a cheap option, this is far from true.

“When someone dies, the process of organising a funeral depends on how and where a person died. If death occurs in an institution or nursing home where the cause of death can be established, legal documentation can be issued and the body can be released to the family who will have had to make the decision whether to use a funeral firm or not.

“If not, in New Zealand a coroner’s inquest is mandatory. Only after these legal requirements are satisfied can tradition, culture, religion, class and past preferences be attended to for bodily disposal.”

Dr McManus has a summer student working on a project comparing online memorials for Christchurch earthquake and Pike River disaster families.

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