TY  - JOUR
AU  - Case,Anne
AU  - Menendez,Alicia
TI  - Requiescat in Pace? The Consequences of High Priced Funerals in South Africa
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14998
PY  - 2009
Y2  - May 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14998
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14998.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Anne Case
367 Wallace Hall
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
Tel: 609/258-2177
Fax: 609/258-5974
E-Mail: accase@princeton.edu

Alicia Menendez
Harris School of Public Policy
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL 60637
E-Mail: menendez@uchicago.edu
AB  - We examine the costs associated with funerals and the effects of funeral spending on household functioning, using data collected in the Agincourt Demographic Surveillance Site in South Africa. We find that large outlays of money at the time of the funeral leave households vulnerable to future hardship. Households that buried a member report lower spending per person, poorer adult affect, and lower rates of school enrollment for children than do other households. We present evidence consistent with the financial burden associated with a funeral having direct, adverse effects on households.
ER  -