Women in the Funeral Industry

Today for #IWD we are paying homage to women in our industry!

Death related fields of work and namely the funeral service industry has seen a steady rise in the number of #women taking up employment.

As of 1991, there has been a staggering 15% rise of women choosing to build a career within the funeral industry and as of 2011 34% of jobs were held by women!

#Funeral service is definitely a field that calls for empathy and before the Victorian era women played an integral role in the care and preparation of the deceased and would be responsible for laying out, washing and dressing rather than the burial itself.

It was men who went to mortuary school to study embalming so the role of women in death shifted.

Today, women may be more commonly known in funeral homes for being the people who arrange the funerals, but what about conducting funerals?

There has been an increase in the number of #female funeral directors which is not only great for women but for families being able to have increased choice.

Being a funeral director probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when talking through career options at school or college but it’s a rewarding and meaningful career choice with a wide variety of roles to choose from with roles such as #operatives and #embalmers.

Women have been known to choose to work in the Funeral industry as a second #career and the work they are expected to carry out is no different to their male counterparts and is often quite physically demanding.

We salute you ladies! #InternationalWomensDay #thefuneralindustry #girlpower