Funeral poverty in the UK::issues for policy

Researchers at the University of Bath have examined state support available for those who cannot afford a funeral at the point of need. They evaluated the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Social Fund Funeral Payment (FP) through interviews with claimants and key stakeholders. The research concluded that the current system lacks coherence in terms of both the process of applications, and how it deals with diverse family realtionships. Furthermore, for the 55% of claimants who are successful in their application, there can be a sustainable shortfall between the contribution awarded and the amount required to meet the cost of a funeral.These findings have important implications for exisiting (and potential future) demand for Public Health Funerals. These are basic funerals which local authorities have a statutory obligation to provide, in circumstances where an individual dies without anyone able or willing to organise and pay for their funeral. In light of on-going issues with the FP, there is concern that local authorities will be required to provide more Public Health Funerals as the number of deaths per year begins to increase. The viability of these two distinct systems of state provision for funerals requires urgent attention to ensure that public resources are approporately targeted to those most in need

From cradle to grave?: policy responses to death in the UK

While death features widely in various humanities and some social science disciplines, to date it has not been given the attention it deserves in social policy discourse or research. This paper sets out to begin to rectify that omission. Outlining a range of policy areas affected by death, it argues that budget and outcome-driven priorities in the UK have resulted in the evolution of disconnected and inconsistent policy responses to death. The paper begins by outlining death rates and characteristics of population ageing before focussing on social divisions in death and associated policies. It considers the death and UK social policy agenda before outlining the key characteristics involved in developing a coherent policy response and policy analysis in this field. It argues for a more comprehensive, consistent and joined up policy response to death, and corresponding academic study of death, which acknowledges and supports individuals preparing to die, when they die, and those left behind

Cremation and Grief:Are Ways of Commemorating the Dead Related to Adjustment Over Time?

Funeral services are known to serve multiple functions for bereaved persons. There is also a common, intuitively reasonable assumption of positive associations between engaging in funeral activities and adjustment to bereavement. We examined whether restricting ceremonial cremation arrangements to a minimum has a negative association with grief over time. Bereaved persons in the United Kingdom completed questionnaires 2 to 5 months postloss and again a year later (N = 233 with complete data; dropout = 11.4%). Neither type nor elaborateness of the cremation service, nor satisfaction with arrangements (typically high), emerged as significantly related to grief; no major subgroup differences (e.g., according to income level) were found. Results suggested that it does not matter to grief whether a more minimalistic or elaborate funeral ceremony was observed. We concluded that the funeral industry represented in this investigation is offering bereaved people the range of choices regarding cremation arrangements to meet their needs. Limits to generalizability are discussed

‘That eccentric use of land at the top of the hill’: Cemeteries and stories of the city

Most contemporary research accounts for conflict within cemetery space, but does not consider the potentially contested and poorly understood role of cemeteries within their broader cityscape. This study draws on stories from cemetery managers across England and Wales to narrate this multifunctionality, as they hold the pivotal role which oversees both the day-to-day running of the cemetery, and its strategic role within a given municipality. The study outlines how cemeteries hold multiple functions in the cities in which they are located, specifically contributing to greenspace or green infrastructure, civic identity and local place attachment. These varying city level roles in turn impact on what is deemed (il)legitimate behaviour within the cemetery. Moreover, they raise important considerations for urban planners and policymakers who currently have little guidance on planning for new or existing cemeteries but are critical in the ongoing successful development of cities

‘My Memories of the Time We Had Together Are More Important’: Direct Cremation and the Privatisation of UK Funerals

Funerals have long been of interest to social scientists. Previous sociological work has examined the relationship between individuality, belief and tradition within funeral services, founded on the assumption that public rituals have psycho-social benefit for organisers and attendees. With the introduction of direct cremation to the UK, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on funeral service attendance in 2020 and 2021, critique of this assumption is now needed. Drawing on interviews with recently bereaved people who organised a direct cremation in late 2017, this article illustrates how compromise, control and consistency are key drivers for not having a funeral service. The article argues that a declining importance in the fate of the body and a move towards ‘invite-only’ commemorative events represents a waning need for social support offered by a public, communal funeral service. In turn, this indicates a sequestration, or privatisation, of the contemporary funeral

Christopher Hitchens' Public dying: Toward a Secular-Humanist Ars Moriendi?

This article explores the public dying of journalist, writer, provocateur, public intellectual, and renowned atheist, Christopher Hitchens. It does so primarily through an analysis of television interviews given by Hitchens following his diagnosis with esophageal cancer in June 2010. Four key themes are identified as emerging from analysis of the interviews: (a) Hitchens’ explicit sense of mission in challenging myths and superstitions surrounding cancer, dying, and death; (b) the personal experience of terminal illness and dying and the particular way (or style of dying) by which it is approached; (c) issues of regret and a life well lived; and (d) questions surrounding religion, the afterlife, and possibility of deathbed conversion. In light of the claim that ours is a culture in search of an ars moriendi, the article examines what we can learn from Hitchens’ auto/pathographic interviews (and writings) and the extent to which this rational-humanist, atheistic, and stoical style of dying provides a useable “template” for others nearing the end of life

Opportunities and barriers to forming a professional identity: communities of practice within UK funeral directing

The status of funeral directors, including whether or not the industry can be considered a legitimate 'profession', has long been a topic of interest in this journal. Contributing to this ongoing debate, this paper considers opportunities and barriers to professional development in the UK funeral industry. In so doing, the paper makes particular reference to 'communities of practice' (CP), a model of situated learning. Previous research in comparable sectors has indicated that CP enhances individual and organisational performance through emphasising commitment to sharing and developing best practice within an area of common interest. Drawing on interviews with and presentations given by funeral directors/arrangers, the paper examines perceptions of performance, alongside issues of mistrust and resistance to change. Data will show that participants conveyed a situation of competing forces in terms of a hierarchical structure within the industry that perpetuates a lack of incentive to invest in education and training. At the same time, a new generation of staff is developing an alternative vision of funeral directing, which includes wider public recognition of their skills. In view of the industry's long-standing drive for professional standing, the paper identifies the potential of CP as a means of negotiating such competing forces to provide a medium through which issues associated with regulation can be addresse