An article examined state benefits associated with bereavement and, in particular, what happened to those people who could not afford a funeral and required state assistance. It evaluated the funeral payment in terms of eligibility and entitlement, and timing and cost. Closer attention needed to be paid to the issue of financial support for funerals to avoid the evolution of an unwieldy system, at a time when the death rate was predicted to rise owing to the ageing of the population.
Source: Kate Woodthorpe, Hannah Rumble, and Christine Valentine, 'Putting "the grave" into social policy: state support for funerals in contemporary UK society', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 42 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May