The cost of living has been a hot topic up and down the country in recent months, but the cost of dying has also sharply increased.
The Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand is calling for funeral grants from Work and Income to be lifted in tomorrow's budget, saying funerals and burials are now unaffordable for many low-income whānau.
The current maximum available grant of $2280 has been in place for 20 years. Funeral directors say falls that well short of the essential tangi and funeral costs, the grant was designed to cover.
To qualify for the grant, applicants have to meet strict criteria in relation to assets and financial hardship. Sandra McIlroy, of Simplicity Bereavement Services, says that has left many whānau struggling.
“Families that are struggling really do need more help and the grant would help that," she told teaomāori.news.
She adds, Māori need to communicate with funeral homes to try and navigate the financial pressures of tangihanga.
"Especially if we know someone is sick, we also need to think about ways that we can help."
Based in Hawke's Bay, McIlroy said her organisation has an understanding with the Ngāti Kaungunu iwi to provide Māori with a reduced cost full funeral service.
"For example, the cost of a funeral is $8000 in my funeral home. We offer iwi members a full service for $4300, which is without cemetery costs."
McIlroy explained that with inflation affecting all walks of life, the funeral industry has not been spared.
"Increase in fuel costs, minimum wage. You have funeral supplies and caskets. Everything has gone up. For small businesses it becomes a real issue, so obviously with increased costs, that gets passed along.”
There has been a call for regulation in the funeral business and McIlroy is in full support of it.
"It minimises risk against bad operators, so somebody can be held accountable for poor workmanship, for lack of professionalism and if the public has a bad experience they have somewhere to go.”
There have been reports that some District Councils want to increase cemetery fees, pushing the funeral grant further from the average cost of a funeral.
“There is a significant shortfall where the grant is too low to sustain real cost. An increase of the funeral grant would really help whānau."