Expensive funerals slow down or retard development in several key ways:
- Waste of Resources: Large sums spent on funerals represent a diversion of capital that could otherwise be invested in productive sectors such as business, education, health, and infrastructure. This reduces the funds available for economic growth and poverty alleviation.
- Financial Pressure on Families: Expensive funerals often force families to incur debt or to deplete their savings, which undermines their financial stability and ability to invest in their future. This affects consumption patterns and limits opportunities for wealth creation within households.
- Loss of Productive Time: Organizing and participating in costly funeral rites can consume significant time and energy of family members and community members who might otherwise engage in income-generating activities or community development efforts.
- Increased Cost Burdens: Rising funeral expenses are driven by factors such as costs of embalming, transportation, luxury caskets, land for burial, and regulatory fees, which add financial layers that disproportionately impact poorer families and communities. This exacerbates economic disparities.
- Environmental Impact: Modern funeral practices (embalming, use of materials like concrete, metals) also have ecological costs that indirectly affect sustainable development goals.
In summary, the economic burden and diversion of resources from productive purposes caused by expensive funerals can slow down a country’s social and economic progress, hindering overall development goals.