The number of Americans and Canadians being cremated upon their deaths is rising sharply, according to data collected by the Cremation Association of North America. Both countries lag far behind Britain, where funeral directors confronted the shift decades ago.
Americans are more conservative and religious in their attitudes towards the final disposition of their loved ones than Britons, death care industry experts say.
Evidence for that can be seen in the regional breakdown: Cremation is least prevalent in the so-called “Bible belt” states of the South-East….