The times, they are a-changing, especially when it comes to how younger generations think about funerals. According to recent research from the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), many Generation Z members, who came of age during the Covid-19 pandemic, are approaching death, disposition, and ritual in ways that differ noticeably from previous generations. While Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers favored cremation in growing numbers, NFDA data suggests Gen Z is pivoting and showing renewed interest in more traditional funeral practices, including burial and formal services.
What stands out most in the NFDA’s findings is how strongly Gen Z values the funeral or memorial service itself. Nearly seven in ten Gen Z respondents told NFDA researchers that holding a funeral or memorial for a loved one is important, a higher share than Baby Boomers and Gen X, and slightly more than Millennials. They are more likely to see a service not simply as a formality, but as an essential part of acknowledging a death and the beginning of truly processing grief.
Their preferences for a return to traditional burial also reflect their changing attitudes. These turnarounds may be connected to a broader desire for a return to a more traditional life, including marrying at younger ages. Gen Z is also evidencing a growing interest in formal religion. Having grown up in the age of cell phones and digital distraction, the appeal of community and community practices such as formal funerals may hold strong sway.
NFDA research also indicates that Gen Z reports higher levels of fear around death than previous generations—a gap that is especially noticeable when compared to Millennials and Boomers. While age and life experience certainly play a role, it’s also possible that disconnection and isolation, intensified during the pandemic years, have made mortality feel more unsettling and threatening. When community ties are weaker, rituals that affirm connection and meaning may hold more attraction. As political scientist Melissa Deckman observed in The Hill, faith communities may resonate with a chronically online generation that is beginning to recognize the limitations of living so much of life through a screen.
This generation has also grown up immersed in a nonstop news cycle. Unlike earlier generations, whose exposure to death and disaster was limited to morning and evening newspapers or a brief nightly broadcast, Gen Z has never known life without constant access to headlines and alerts – usually of bad news, which drives news traffic. With constant exposure to war, strife, and natural and man-made disasters, death can feel ever-present and unavoidable. Over time, this kind of steady exposure may heighten anxiety and a sense of social disconnection, and increase the desire for rituals that slow things down and increase a sense of community.
In that context, it’s not hard to see why traditional practices may feel appealing. Burial, particularly when paired with a headstone, offers a tangible sense of permanence. A funeral or memorial service creates space for public remembrance and can drive home that someone’s life truly mattered. The desire to return to more shared, formal ritual and practices shows a wish for structure in a world that often feels overwhelming and transient.
Concurrently, NFDA data shows that Gen Z is deeply environmentally aware. Like Millennials, they express greater interest in green options than older generations and are more likely to raise concerns about the environmental impact of cremation. This awareness may help explain growing curiosity about green burial and environmentally friendly embalming practices—choices that bring their end-of-life decisions in line with broader values around sustainability.
Social attitudes toward the funeral profession itself are also evolving. While skepticism among Boomers was shaped in part by works like Jessica Mitford’s The American Way of Death, NFDA research finds that Gen Z is significantly more likely to view funeral directors positively, as providers of a valuable and trusted service. The funeral profession has been responsive to concerns of previous generations, and this shift may reflect that increased transparency and the stronger emphasis on care, education, and community engagement.
How can we meet Gen Z where they are? For parents of Gen Z children, these findings may actually make conversations about funeral wishes and end-of-life care easier, not harder. While Gen Z is often described as uncomfortable talking about death, NFDA surveys show that a majority say they are open to these conversations. With encouragement, they are willing to engage, and they care deeply about honoring life and saying goodbye well. This represents a great opportunity to bring them into your own thoughts and plans about the end of your own life and let them know you’re interested in how they see things for themselves as well.
It’s still too early to know the full impact of Gen Z’s renewed interest in traditional practices, but NFDA’s research makes one thing clear: this generation’s expectations and desires are different. Funeral directors, cemeteries, and faith communities have an opportunity to respond by offering flexibility, education, and a wider range of meaningful options, from traditional burial to green alternatives and even witnessed cremation when families choose it.
Meeting Gen Z where they are may require recalibrating our own assumptions and being more willing to talk openly about death, keeping in mind that their experience of the world is quite different than ours. Though they are young, many already have opinions about how they want to be remembered. Creating space for intergenerational dialogue around these topics benefits everyone. Gen Z is asking for connection, meaning, and participation, and NFDA’s research shows they are inviting us to meet them there.
