Latest sign of hardship: Families unable to bury loved ones

[RamboLiberal]

Source: USA Today

The economic downturn has left many families across the nation unable to afford burials.

As funeral costs rise and the economy continues to founder, many communities are seeing a rise in unclaimed bodies and funerals for indigent people.

The trend has been seen "everywhere," says Jacqueline Byers, director of research and outreach for the National Association of Counties.

"The reality is, it's gotten worse," she says.




Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-15/indigent-burials-increase/50418930/1

[lunatica]

1. This was posted this morning very early

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1948322&mesg_id=1949503

[MineralMan]

2. Not surprising. People who are unemployed and who have no

funds are in that position. Others are turning to cremation to save money. Much cheaper. In most jurisdictions, there are provisions for people who cannot pay for a burial.

There are more serious problems.

[LongTomH]

3. Lawn of the Dead

No, I don't mean to be disrespectful; that was the title of a story in a Kansas City alternative newspaper about a mortuary that performs cremations for the indigent. If no one comes to claim the ashes, they're scattered on the lawn of a local cemetery, between a cottonwood tree and a columbarium (a column with openings for urns.).

Lawn of the Dead