Revisiting the cost of dying
There is support available, but advocates say it doesn't go far enough.
Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Friday, July 26.
In today’s Death Week edition: It’s time to ask once again why it costs so much to die in Aotearoa. Plus: the boot camp questions hanging over the abuse in care inquiry, and New Zealand’s Olympic flag bearers have been revealed.
Welcome back to death week
All week on The Spinoff we’ve been looking at death. Not in any morbid way, but just because it’s a topic that’s not always openly talked about and, well, it sometimes should be. Editor Madeleine Chapman explained it all in this introductory essay on Monday morning. Since then, we’ve published stories on a range of topics, from life insurance to grief. Today, I’m going to revisit a subject I wrote about for our inaugural Death Week in 2023: the cost of dying. Because dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot. Why?
The cost of dying
Last year for The Spinoff, I reported on how rising inflation was causing concerns about “funeral poverty”. We’ve spent four years in a global cost of living crisis, with consistent attention on the price of groceries, petrol and other everyday expenses (even, as we discussed last Friday, airfares). But, though less talked about, dealing with the death of a loved one is also something experienced by families every single day. And it’s expensive. Stuff’s Brianna McIlraith reported on the latest figures around the cost of burials and cremations last week, noting that prices had continued to rise over the past 12 months, even as the wider economy started to improve. In New Plymouth, for example, it could cost over $7,200 for a burial. There are some helpful charts in this story on The Spinoff by Shanti Mathias that break down the cost of dying by region.
These costs just represent the burial plot itself. Rachel Benns, president of the Funeral Directors Association, told me last year that 98% of cemeteries are council owned and therefore affected by land costs. The Spinoff’s Alex Casey has written previously about growing interest in alternative and more eco-friendly options for after death, and this morning she has an interesting piece on water cremation. But while these alternatives may one day be more commonplace, for now, most people are forced to choose between a cremation or a burial.
What support is out there
There is help available for families struggling to cover the costs of a loved one’s farewell available from the Ministry of Social Development. However, it only rises in line with inflation and advocates have argued it started well below where it should have been when compared to the sky high cost of a funeral. Mandy Te at Re:News has an interesting story looking in-depth at the life of a funeral director, Bradley Shaw, from Whakatāne. He says that the grant, which can provide up to $2,559.20 to help with funeral costs, is insufficient. “It needs to be addressed because our costs are only going up and yet the funeral grant isn’t following,” said Shaw.
Once you’ve covered the expense of the burial, there are a number of additional costs that can make the actual cost of dying far greater – the figure often cited in the media for an average funeral is $10,000. As Rachel Benns explained to me last year: “The main fixed costs are around care of the deceased, funeral directors looking after them, disposal of the deceased, chapel hire or church hire, looking after the cremation or burial, death certificate and any medical papers.” So even if you qualify for the maximum amount of financial support, you could be several thousand dollars short.
The move for change
Along with water cremation, one growing alternative is a natural burial, writes The Spinoff’s Claire Mabey. But as her story explains, while it may be better for the environment, it doesn’t solve the issue of cost. A report by Sunday’s Mava Moayyed in October last year focused on a woman who was planning her own funeral in order to avoid debt. It involved a casket made from discarded pallets and a drive to the crematorium in the back of a friend’s Dodge truck. What Karen Edser doesn’t want to do is leave her family any cost for saying goodbye. “That just honours the banks, doesn't it? That’s abhorrent.” Edser appears to have made the best out of a tragic situation, but she’s certainly not alone, as this 2022 story about DIY funerals on The Spinoff illustrates.
Lobby group Death Without Debt has been advocating for additional support around funeral costs, but also, as RNZ reported earlier in the year, for government assistance in demystifying the wider process. "Not talking about death allows the funeral industry to keep on making a lot of money out of us,” the group’s founder, Fergus Wheeler, said in January. Speaking to The Star earlier this month, Wheeler said he wanted doctors to stop automatically referring families to the funeral industry to meet paperwork requirements. "Our communities have lost the know-how to farewell the dead ourselves,” he said.
While in opposition, National told The Spinoff it would review the amount on offer through the Ministry of Social Development grant. One year on, the now-social development minister Louise Upston told Re:News that changes were “not on the coalition government’s current work programme”. The cost of living crisis remains a focus, but not, it would seem, the less visible crisis involving the dead.
Find all of The Spinoff’s Death Week stories here. Take care, I realise it can be a tricky subject.
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Minister promises boot camps will be ‘open, transparent’
The Spinoff’s Joel MacManus wrote a powerful opinion piece yesterday in the wake of the government’s response to the abuse in care inquiry. He noted that while all MPs delivered thoughtful speeches in the presence of survivors, it was the words left unspoken that were the loudest.
The government condemned the horrific abuse by those charged to care for our most vulnerable, while in the same month launching a new boot camp programme for youth offenders. The prime minister has continued to defend the scheme, and children’s minister Karen Chhour told RNZ’s Checkpoint that the military academy would be very different to those from the past. "I think we've proven that already by letting media in to see exactly where these young people will be and showing them some of the activities that these young people will be involved in," she said.
More reading: Lyric Waiwiri-Smith explains why, though harrowing, you should read the abuse in care report.
Te Pāti Māori warns of ‘fireworks’ over foreshore and seabed amendment
The government’s proposing an amendment that would restore parliament’s test for customary marine title, reported Te Ao Māori News. It would make it harder for Māori to claim title to the foreshore and seabed. As Stuff’s Glenn McConnell reported, the move has upset Te Pāti Māori, who warned of “fireworks” if the government follows through. “They’re stripping away Māori rights, and that’s building up to the Treaty Principles Bill which will test the country on a level that it hasn’t been tested before,” said the party’s Te Tai Tonga MP Tākuta Ferris. It’s two decades since a large hīkoi headed to parliament in protest at the then-government’s move to vest ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown. The current government has denied it’s proposed amendment would reopen this debate.
Click and Collect
Why the stickers on Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke’s laptop caused tension in parliament yesterday.
I missed this new Herald data project yesterday, so I’m sharing it now. It’s an interactive map of New Zealand showing how Māori land passed into Pākehā ownership and the stories surrounding it.
If you have an NZDoctor subscription, I recommend this fascinating read on how Wellington Hospital is researching the role of SCOBY (the slimy yeast used for brewing kombucha) in creating artificial skin for training anaesthetists.
Does Nobby have the numbers? The Invercargill mayor is facing a second challenge over a code of conduct breach.
The Post’s Luke Malpass reports that the Ministry of Education plans to reduce the national public school projects bill by nearly half, by slashing the total number of projects and re-scoping others.
If you enjoyed Succession, you’ll enjoy this New York Times read republished by the Herald looking at the secret battle for the future of the Murdoch media empire.
Another great NYT read to end the week: If you’ve become obsessed with Chappell Roan in recent months (or even if you’ve never heard of her), this story goes inside her tour that started off small but has since blown up.
Alex Casey and Tara Ward rank the Brokenwood Murders best deaths. Shanti Mathias presents eight graphs that show how we die in New Zealand. Claire Hera Lindsay Bird advises a reader who really wants to block a particular person from attending their funeral.
Flag-bearers revealed for Paris Olympics
I normally enjoy a sleep-in on a Saturday, but tomorrow morning I’ll be getting up to watch the Olympics opening ceremony (it kicks off about 6am and will air on Sky Open). When I do sleepily put myself in front of the TV, it will be to see track cyclist Aaron Gate and sailing athlete Jo Aleh carry the New Zealand flag on behalf of our athletes. The pair were announced overnight as the flag bearers at a ceremony in Paris attended by the New Zealand squad and dignitaries. “I remember, as a 10-year-old, watching Barbara Kendall lead the New Zealand Team at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Games. To be given the opportunity to be a flagbearer myself is something I never thought possible,” Aleh said. Great stuff.
The Herald has rolling coverage of the Olympics early matches, including the All Blacks sevens quarter final which is just starting.
That’s it for another week, thanks for reading. I’ll see you back here on Monday. Have a great weekend!
Let me know in the comments, or get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz, if you have any feedback on today’s issue or anything in the news.
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Thanks Stewart another meaty read. The Maori land map was especially interesting and damning.
Thanks for the "cost of dying" deep dive - we don't like to think of things like this, but it is a big shock to whanau if they haven't had to deal with a death in the family before, or for some time when costs were more modest, but it is part of the "death & taxes" basket i.e. as sure as death comes for all, so does the "what to do with the body" question. In my parents' day they bought a funeral insurance policy - not sure whether that would help a lot now, and we have yet to find out for a surviving parent.
Thanks also for raising the Customary Marine TItle roll back being introduced - it is hard to believe how blatant this coalition govt is about their anti-Maori & down right racist policies are.... from big items like Health & Education, right down to petty things like this, & whether Maori names should go first or 2nd, & whether Karakia should be used in govt agencies (incidentally, I have taken as leader, & participated in, Karakia many times in a work place or volunteer project & in NONE of those times was it a religious "prayer" but a joint resolution to uphold the mana of the work & the community) - these are all just flexing POWER for power's sake, and not about anything else.