{"id":4129,"date":"2022-09-10T08:31:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T13:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/?post_type=press&#038;p=4129"},"modified":"2022-10-20T08:32:12","modified_gmt":"2022-10-20T13:32:12","slug":"funeralocity-ceo-on-the-growth-in-female-funeral-directors","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/media-center\/funeralocity-ceo-on-the-growth-in-female-funeral-directors\/","title":{"rendered":"Funeralocity CEO on the Growth in Female Funeral Directors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>National, September 10, 2022 &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/republicamericas.com\/us\/the-job-market-is-tight-but-this-industry-is-attracting-new-workers\/\">Republic Americas<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Colleges specializing in funeral service education are growing enrollment amid a dearth of workers in the funeral services industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe shortage is so serious right now that there\u2019s a 90% job placement rate for graduates of these programs,\u201d said Leili McMurrough, program director at Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Wheeling, Illinois, one of the nation\u2019s oldest mortuary schools dating back to 1911.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2021, nationwide new student enrollment in accredited mortuary science programs jumped 24% over 2020, according to the American Board of Funeral Service Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The overall percentage increase in enrollment of students in the 58 accredited mortuary programs or institutions in the United States could be even higher this year, said McMurrough, who is also chair of the American Board of Funeral Service Education (AFBSE) Committee on Accreditation.<\/p>\r\n    <div class=\"single-content-banner\">\r\n                                    <div class=\"single-content-banner__shortcode\">\r\n                            <div class=\"input-search-wrapper input-search-wrapper--bottom\">\r\n            <h2 class=\"title-search\">See funeral home prices in your area<\/h2>\r\n            <div class=\"input-search search-home\">\r\n                <input placeholder=\"Enter your City or ZIP Code\" type=\"search\" class=\"addressMain\">\r\n                <button type=\"submit\" class=\"blue-button\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/funeralocity\/dist\/images\/icons\/search-button.svg\">Search\r\n                <\/button>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            <span class=\"small-text\">Use zip code for more precise search results<\/span>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n                    <\/div>\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n\n<p>Randy Anderson, president of the National Funeral Directors Association, is acutely aware of the labor crunch and says colleges can\u2019t churn out licensed workers fast enough to meet the need for new hires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Demand for funeral directors is especially high, and an aging workforce has made it a race against the clock, said Anderson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s an urgent need to replace those who have been in the profession for many years and are retiring,\u201d he said. \u201cOver 60% of funeral home owners said they will retire in five years. That\u2019s a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NFDA currently has more than 20,000 members, and each state has its own apprenticeship and licensing requirements, Anderson said. Most states also require funeral directors to graduate from an accredited college or university program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to latest government data, the funeral industry generates over $16 billion in annual revenue. There were more than 18,800 funeral homes in the US in 2021, majority of them privately owned small businesses, down from 19,902 in 2010, according to industry numbers.<\/p>\r\n    <div class=\"single-content-banner\">\r\n                                    <a href=\"https:\/\/funeralocity.com\/average-funeral-price\" class=\"single-content-banner__image\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"desktop\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_1_desktop.png\" alt=\"Compare the cost of funerals in your city\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"tablet\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_1_tablet.png\" alt=\"Compare the cost of funerals in your city\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mobile\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_1_mobile.png\" alt=\"Compare the cost of funerals in your city\">\r\n                <\/a>\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-young-women-second-career-seekers-join-ranks\">Young women, second career seekers join ranks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Women currently make up as much as 72% of recent graduates of funeral services education, according to latest AFBSE numbers. Said Anderson, \u201cuntil the 1970s, men dominated. Every decade since then, the number of women coming into the profession has increased.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And they\u2019re younger, too<strong>.&nbsp;<\/strong>At Worsham, McMurrough said, the typical student is a 24- to 29-year-old woman, but many are older applicants seeking a new career.\u201cThere\u2019s a big interest in this field from women, and it makes sense. Women absolutely have an empathetic bent and are perhaps better prepared to help families get through a very difficult life event,\u201d said Ed Michael Reggie, CEO of&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Funeralocity.com<\/a>, an online resource to help families find a funeral home or crematorium provider that best meets their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo one plans to be a funeral director, unless you have a parent in the business,\u201d said Reggie. \u201cBut as a first-time career, it\u2019s general not a costly degree. It\u2019s a shorter program than a full college degree and you can make $60,000 to $75,000 a year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ellen Wynn McBrayer is a funeral director at Jones-Wynn Funeral Home and Crematorium, a third generation family business with two locations in Georgia. Her grandmother, Shirley Drew Jones, was the first woman to be a licensed funeral director in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe new and younger people who are coming in are also more open-minded about not doing things the same way, but customizing the service to what families want,\u201d said McBrayer. \u201cA funeral is not just a day in the life but a lifetime in one day.\u201d<strong><\/strong><\/p>\r\n    <div class=\"single-content-banner\">\r\n                                    <a href=\"https:\/\/funeralocity.com\/cremationclub\" class=\"single-content-banner__image\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"desktop\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_2_desktop.png\" alt=\"Advanced directive planning - for peace of mind\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"tablet\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_2_tablet.png\" alt=\"Advanced directive planning - for peace of mind\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mobile\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_2_mobile.png\" alt=\"Advanced directive planning - for peace of mind\">\r\n                <\/a>\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n\n<p>Several factors are fueling growing interest in the profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At her school, McMurrough said enrollment numbers rose after Worsham began offering its online program two years ago. \u201cThis gave those people who had another job but were also interested in the field the flexibility to be able to pursue it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Worsham offers a one-year associates degree (tuition $22,800) and a 16-month online associate degree program (tuition $24,800). Eighty percent of the most recent cohort of students in the college\u2019s online course were women, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Quick career advancement is another appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These aren\u2019t six figure-level jobs \u2014 median wages for funeral industry jobs, such as funeral home managers was $74,000 and $48,950 for morticians, undertakers and funeral arrangers in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But \u201cyou do have the opportunity to advance in just a few years from getting your college degree to becoming funeral director or even owning your own funeral home,\u201d said McMurrough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-4129","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"location":{"state":"National","city":""},"section_type":"in_the_news","news_content_type":"inner_post","news_image":"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Republic-Americas-1-1.png","full_width_image":false,"show_on_page":[],"popularity":"0"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.7 (Yoast SEO v17.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Funeralocity CEO on the Growth in Female Funeral Directors - Knowledge Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/media-center\/funeralocity-ceo-on-the-growth-in-female-funeral-directors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Funeralocity CEO on the Growth in Female Funeral Directors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"National, September 10, 2022 &#8211; Republic Americas Colleges specializing in funeral service education are growing enrollment amid a dearth of workers in the funeral services industry. \u201cThe shortage is so serious right now that there\u2019s a 90% job placement rate for graduates of these programs,\u201d said Leili McMurrough, program director at Worsham College of Mortuary [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/media-center\/funeralocity-ceo-on-the-growth-in-female-funeral-directors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Knowledge Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/funeralocity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-20T13:32:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@funeralocity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Funeralocity\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/funeralocity\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/funeralocity\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/funeralocity\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/funeralocity\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1599020408\/logo_hgzimk\/logo_hgzimk.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/funeralocity\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1599020408\/logo_hgzimk\/logo_hgzimk.jpg\",\"width\":259,\"height\":110,\"caption\":\"Funeralocity\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Knowledge Center\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/media-center\/funeralocity-ceo-on-the-growth-in-female-funeral-directors\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/media-center\/funeralocity-ceo-on-the-growth-in-female-funeral-directors\/\",\"name\":\"Funeralocity CEO on the Growth in Female Funeral Directors - Knowledge Center\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-10T13:31:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-20T13:32:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/media-center\/funeralocity-ceo-on-the-growth-in-female-funeral-directors\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/media-center\/funeralocity-ceo-on-the-growth-in-female-funeral-directors\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/media-center\/funeralocity-ceo-on-the-growth-in-female-funeral-directors\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Knowledge Center\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Funeralocity CEO on the Growth in Female Funeral Directors\"}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Funeralocity CEO on the Growth in Female Funeral Directors - Knowledge Center","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/media-center\/funeralocity-ceo-on-the-growth-in-female-funeral-directors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Funeralocity CEO on the Growth in Female Funeral Directors","og_description":"National, September 10, 2022 &#8211; 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