This document discusses the complex issues around providing free funerals. It notes that while no parent should have to bury their child, there are debates around what age cutoff should apply and which funeral costs should be covered. It also raises questions about determining financial need and whether certain groups deserve free funerals more than others. The document ultimately argues that developing policies around free funerals requires delicately balancing these many nuances.

1. Free funerals – a delicate balance
Cooperative Funeralcare recently announced it was
extending its free service policy in respect of 16-18
year-old children, having provided free funerals to
under 16s for thirty years, amounting to some 25,000
funerals to date.
The change in policy hit the headlines and was generally
seen as a generous and positive step but it does raise a
few issues. Whilst no one would deny that having to
bury your own child is probably the worst thing that
anyone could ever deal with, there are many nuances
as to how policies on free or reduced-fee funerals
should be formed.
Firstly, there is that age cut-off. Clearly 16-18 year olds
are still children but then is a 19 year old so very much
older than an 18 year old? Is the difference between
the funeral of a new-born baby or a teenager so great
or so little that different rules should apply? Can
burying your child, of whatever age, ever be anything
but horrific?
Next there is the detail of which elements are free.
Besides the funeral directors’ costs, there may also be
expenses from other suppliers such as caterers, florists,
the crematorium and so on. Are these business people
then shamed into offering their services for free? Does
the funeral director offer a Rolls-Royce service or a
basic level one? At which point does he say ‘that
element of the service is not included in our free
funeral offer’?
Then there is the issue of ‘need’. It is accepted by many
funeral directors that the death of a child is often an
unexpected cost; children don’t have funeral plans,
assets or savings, nor are their deaths generally
anticipated. Even when children are terminally ill, their
parents have many other, more pressing costs to deal
with before worrying about funeral expenses.
However, it is also the case that the costs of children’s
funerals will be more of a burden to some than to
others. People often die in particularly tragic
circumstances but should a free funeral be offered to
the wealthy parents of an 8 year old but not to the poor
parents of a 21 year old? Are there other groups in
society who ‘deserve’ free funerals? There is some
support for former servicemen but how much support
is there for the elderly spinster with few relatives?
Finally we have incentives. YouGov surveyed interest in
free funerals for organ donors some years ago.
Interestingly, although almost half of respondents
supported the idea and thought it would lead to more
people joining the organ donor programme, slightly
over half didn’t feel it would make them personally sign
up for organ donation. The moral issues around
‘paying’ for organs in such a way are, of course, beyond
the scope of this newsletter and almost certainly
beyond the scope of the National Health Service.
https://yougov.co.uk/news/2011/11/03/free-funerals-
organ-donors/
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