Funeral industry gears up for boomers

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The projects the annual number of deathsa in the United States will risefrom 2.6 million next year to 3 millioh in 2024 — and 4 million in 2043. “Wre hear the tidal wave is coming,” said Chris Meyer, ownedr of in Carmichael. “We’ve known the (baby boome trend) has been coming for some time, so the industruy has been gearing up for thatto happen,” said Bob a Mississippi funeral home operator and an executive boared member of the . “We’ll be able to handle But the industry firsg has to survive the current death The number of deaths in the United States declinedby 0.9 percent from 2005 to in part because of a mild flu according to the .
Health care advances have led to record-high life expectanciese and lower annual deatnh rates for a rangeof diseases, including stroke, hearyt disease and diabetes. “We have actually felt a lighteercase load,” Meyer said. “I think some of the bigger funeral homes have felt a precipitousdrop off.” Baby boomers mighrt live longer than their parents, but sooner or later they’ver got to go. Those who want traditional burials should preparew forrising prices. The median cost of a funerakl in the United Stateswas $6,196 in according to a National Funeral Directors Association survey released last year.
That which includes a $2,255 metao casket, was 11 perceng higher than inthe association’s survety in 2004. With the inclusion of a concrete which manycemeteries require, the price rises to $7,323. “That’sa the funeral that is going out of saidJoshua Slocum, executive director of nonprofir . He predicts that the funeraol industry will respond to the rising deatb rate by offering cheaper servicesto compete. “Thisx is not going to caus e a run on he said. “If anybody’s going to jump into the embalmingv businessthinking it’s recession-proof, they’re misguided. Baby boomerws are not interested intheir grandma’s funeral.
” Crematio n rates in the United States increased from 26 percentg in 2000 to 35 percent in 2007, accordinyg to the . The association projects a rate of 39 percent next year and 59 percentfby 2025. “In some places of California, like Maribn County, you’re looking at a 90 percent cremation rate,” Slocum Cost is a big factor, but there are also demographiv changesat work. “They say the ‘greatesf generation’ were more traditional, more religious Meyer said. “Now, more educated more liberal thinkers (who are) less religious in many tend to think, ‘It’s all about economicsz for me.
’ ” Meyer, whose mortuarh offers both cremation and embalming said a traditional buriaklcosts $6,000 to $10,000, depending on the casket. Crematiob costs about $1,000 to In the Sacramento area, Meye said, “there’s been an explosion of storefronycremation places.” Bodies come in and get shippedd to off-site crematoriums. The ashes are returned in an urn. “Theuy don’t have the facilities to Meyer said. “They don’t have a chapel. It’s wildl y cheaper. It’s sort of the Wal-Martificatioj of the funeral industry.” “Green” or “natural” burials are also growinf in popularity.
People are buriedc in a casket made of abiodegradable material, such as pine or or they can skip the caskert and just be buried in a shroud. Only one cemeteruy in California, in Mill Valley, offers greebn burials. It started offering the servicein 2004.