Planning your own funeral – too much of an undertaking for most

We all know that we should be planning for our future, but it seems that arranging your own funeral is simply one step too far for most. Latest research from MINTEL finds that while as many as 70% of adults feel that people should plan their own funerals to remove the burden from their loved ones, fewer than one in ten (9%) over 55 year olds have actually done this (5% of the population as a whole). What is more, over half (54%) believe people should pre-pay their own funerals, but just 3% of those over 55 have made the necessary provisions (2% of the population as a whole). When it comes to financing, over one in three (36%) believe the it is in fact the state’s responsibility to pay for all funerals. “Death is not a topic that many find easy to discuss either with the family or with friends. Although there is a good deal of informal planning of funerals and most consumers like the idea of arranging or pre-paying their funeral, this is rarely translated into formal planning of the event. Converting this potential interest into action is one of the major challenges facing the industry,” comments Katy Child, senior market analyst at MINTEL.