The Cost of Getting Rid.

There has been some concern expressed over the past few years that British undertakers have been hiking their prices way beyond the level of inflation. It seems they have been taking advantage of the fact that they have a captive market ready and waiting to be exploited. Bodies do, after all, have to be disposed of, and the bereaved need a ceremony to help them say goodbye.

But what of the poorer members of society to whom the cost of a funeral is massive and which comes at a time when they are most emotionally vulnerable? While the undertakers assume the right to join the free market melee, what of those who can’t afford their inflated prices and do not fit the tight criteria for state help?

I walked past an undertaker’s shop today. It had three windows, the middle of which had a marketing slogan writ in big gold letters. It said:

When

Caring

Really

Counts

‘So care,’ I thought. ‘The poor don’t mind not having luxuries, but disposing of a loved one’s remains is hardly that.’