Pauper Funerals have risen by 46%. Will it keep on rising?

[Haz]

The article details the amount of people who have no-one in the world to call their own..or arrange a funeral.

What do you feel are the reasons for this? The article talks of the dispossessed and down and outs in society but it does not cover everyone.

The article confuses two facts - Death benefit is paid to thousands of families who are unable to cover funeral costs , those on benefits.This is about those with NO-ONE. I don't want this to turn into ' my bloody taxes' debate I'm not interested...

I want to know what factors in our modern society are increasing this shameful statistics? What is contributing the isolation that people are living in now? I feel sad to think of a baby being born surrounded by hope and opitimism , only to end it's life with no-one to mark it's passing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/15/state-funded-funerals
Dave s- That's assuming anyone turns up....

[Faith]

That is so sad Haz. The only factors i can think of contributing to this heartbreaking fact is the breakdown of family values. There is a growing sense of me & mine as opposed to us & ours. There doesn't seem to be a feeling of 'we look after our own' anymore. Here in India, tho' there is a move towards nuclear families, grandparents, in-laws are always around the corner...!

Also, from a cultural angle, some cultures deem it their duty to bury the dead. Here in India, people read the newspapers & attend funerals of strangers in an attempt to fulfill this duty. i know there are people who visit morgues and claim bodies who are not claimed and perform the religious rites for them.