Aug 11, 2008 12:00 pm US/Eastern
Bad Economy Causes Cremations To Skyrocket
Industry Experts Predict Jump From 27 To 50 Percent In Next 2 Decades
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The economy is forcing families to make some tough choices, even when it comes to their loved ones final resting place. So some are now choosing to drastically cut the cost of a final farewell.
For years, most families chose the traditional route of a casket and ground burial, but now many are opting for the less expensive cremation.
"Our cremations in total volume with our funeral homes have doubled and that's primarily due to the cost of ground burial and entombment," said Frank Sinatra Jr. of Sinatra Memorial Home.
Cremation will cost a family around $400, ground burial more than 10 times that amount at $5,000 and a crypt -- a coffin stored above ground -- starts at around $8,500.
Family mausoleums run into the hundreds of thousands.
Donald Williams has been with Woodlawn Cemetery for nearly 40 years.
"The feeling is that if the cemeteries don't turn to offer more cremation services, that they're going to go out of business, that more and more people are looking for that," Williams said.
Woodlawn Cemetery estimates it will have at least 300 more cremations than usual this year.
Williams says the struggling economy is a factor, and more families are now considering cremation, especially as it becomes more accepted by different religious groups. There's also more flexibility when it comes to the final resting place.
"You can scatter in the ocean, scatter on the mountain, we have a variety of glass front niches. We have outdoor cremation gardens today," Williams said.
Right now the cremation rate in New York State is 27 percent, according to the Cremation Association of North America. By the year 2025, it's expected to go over 50 percent.
The highest number of cremations in the country is in Florida and California where more than half of the deaths in those states result in cremation. New York is ranked third.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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