More Americans than ever are using cremation as a way to honor their deceased loved ones, according to a recent report from the National Funeral Directors Association. Per the NFDA’s projections, the percentage of families who choose cremation could be more than 50% in every state in America, including the District of Columbia, by 2035.
“As more families choose cremation and other emerging options, the heart of funeral service remains the same: helping people honor lives with dignity and meaning,” NFDA President Christopher P. Robinson said in a statement. “This report shows how our profession continues to evolve while keeping families and communities at the center of all we do.”
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The current cremation rate in the United States, the report said, is 63.4%. This is projected to increase to 82.3% by 2045.
Cremations could become more popular than burials by more than six to one by that year as well. Burials are declining, and are currently done at a rate of 31.6%. This is expected to drop to 13% in the next two decades.
There are a few reasons for this, the NFDA found: these include affordability, environmental benefits and a desire for “simpler ceremonies.” In addition, as more Americans identify as non religious, there are fewer who face religious prohibitions to cremations.
NFDA Spokesperson Tim Schramm, a licensed Funeral Director and CEO of Howe-Peterson Funeral Home & Cremation Services, noted that the cremation rate has been increasing for decades.
“To me, that’s more about family choice, more than anything else,” Schramm said. While a families’ religion or economic situation might play a part, at the end of the day, for most people, “it’s about the ability to make decisions that they think are best for themselves.”
“Certainly, with cremation, there’s a lot of different memorialization options that are available to families,” he said.
This rising cremation rate all comes as deaths are projected to climb by 26% over the next 20 years. The NFDA’s report cautioned that personnel shortages remain a business challenge, with employment growth at just 4% projected for 2023 through 2033.
Estimations from the report were compiled by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Applied Population Laboratory with data from state vital-statistics departments and consumer studies by the NFDA.
‘Green’ and other alternative burials
Along with cremations, a growing number of people are choosing “green” burials, as Straight Arrow News previously reported. Funerals like these don’t embalm the dead, but instead look for biodegradable coffins or burial shrouds in low-density cemeteries that use flat grave markers, not headstones.
The NFDA’s report stated that 36.3% of its members offer a “green” option, and 25% are planning to “soon.” More than 61% of consumers expressed interest in exploring these options as well.
New technology is also giving people new options. Over half of NFDA-member funeral homes offer livestreaming options, and 47% of funeral homes offer virtual ceremonies.
Schramm has seen some unique services himself.
“We’ve done bowling events, we’ve done golf outings,” he recalled. “We had a gentleman who was a longtime employee at a local bar, and we had his visitation and funeral right in the bar.”
No matter how one chooses to commemorate their family or friends, Schramm says, it’s always important to recognize and honor “that unique life that has been lived.”
“Quite frankly, that funeral, that memorial, that celebration of life, that tribute service — it’s not for the deceased. It’s for the family. Funerals are for the living,” Schramm said. “When do you see most of your family? Weddings and funerals. So, if you skip the funeral? That’s a lost opportunity to get to see your family — to reconnect to share memories to catch up the laugh to cry.”
