"Funeral poverty is still a reality for thousands of people across the UK”, says Down to Earth co-manager Lindesay Mace, following the publication of SunLife’s Cost of Dying report for 2022.
Key figures in the report show that:
- Almost one in five people (19%) struggle with funeral costs. The proportion of people who experience “notable financial concerns” when paying for a funeral is up again, for the third year in a row.
- While the average cost of a “basic funeral” is down very slightly across the UK, there are huge price hikes in Northern Ireland (+8.5%) and Wales (+13.3%). The price of some elements that many people want for funerals, such as flowers and a wake, is up 7.4%.
- People face a higher shortfall of money to cover funeral costs (£1,870 on average), with more people taking on debt in the form of credit cards and loans.
- Average funeral payment awards (state benefits towards funeral expenses) across the UK still pay less than half the average cost of a “basic funeral”.
“It is positive that some costs have reduced very slightly for two consecutive years but this is not consistent, nor is it enough to undo the above-inflation price rises seen for more than a decade,” adds Lindesay.
QSA continues to campaign for adequate and equitable funeral-related and bereavement payments, and for transparency and regulation in the funeral industry. Since 2021, our Down to Earth funeral costs team has reported almost 250 funeral directors for non-compliance with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Order, which requires UK funeral directors to display prices online and in branches.
Lindesay notes that while 68% of funeral directors surveyed in the SunLife report were "very supportive" of the CMA Order, she hopes that this translates into compliance and tangible reforms in the funeral industry.
Please read QSA’s report on funeral poverty submitted to the United Nation’s Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights this January 2023. The SunLife report is available to read here (external link).