High-scoring Chinese youths break taboos by joining the funeral industry
A few young graduates pursuing careers in the funeral industry are attempting to change the often negative views that people may have of the industry. Will their efforts be enough? China Desk looks at the issue.
In a viral incident, a student in China with an impressive score of 601 in the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) chose to enrol in a niche and unconventional funeral management course for her undergraduate studies.
According to China Youth Daily, the student, Chen Xuetong from Zhejiang, enrolled in China Civil Affairs University, inaugurated in 2024 as a university for undergraduate vocational programmes. The funeral management programme she opted for is the first of its kind in China, and it is not easy to be admitted to the programme.
High cut-off point for funeral management
The report states that the university admitted 150 students into its undergraduate funeral management programme in 2024. The NCEE admission score is 20 to 30 points higher than that for other vocational programmes at the university.
What has puzzled many is why Chen, with her good NCEE score, has chosen a non-mainstream programme over other more popular ones.
Chen offers two reasons for her decision. First, she was influenced by a blogger who is a funeral embalmer — she said that the blogger’s humorous, witty and relatable style changed her perception of the funeral industry. Her second reason relates to the employment challenges currently faced by university graduates in China. Chen settled on funeral management because she and her family concluded after online research that funeral services offer excellent job prospects.
They have been hired as cremation workers at the Guangzhou Municipality Funeral Services Centre. The employee from CUHK holds a master’s degree.
Many netizens have expressed admiration and praise for Chen’s foresight with comments such as “If I could turn back time, I would choose the undergraduate funeral management programme too as it would ensure a stable income”, “Good choice, as the industry is less competitive, pays decently, and offers an iron rice-bowl (job security)” and “Do little work but earn a lot of money, if one does not consider the job a taboo”.
While it may not necessarily be true that the job involves little work for a high salary, it is evident that the funeral industry is stable and offers job security, mainly because there is a shortage of workers in the industry. According to a September 2024 report by China City Network, before China Civil Affairs University introduced its funeral management programme, only eight vocational institutions in China offered similar courses, producing about 1,000 graduates annually. This number still cannot fulfil the minimum workforce needed in the industry, which faces an annual shortfall of 10,000 employees in funeral parlours alone.
Is the grass truly greener in the funeral industry?
The annual shortfall of 10,000 employees in the industry may suggest less job competition, but this does not mean it is easy to join the industry.
In fact, some positions face stiff competition. According to The Paper, the list of hired employees published by the Civil Affairs Bureau of Guangzhou Municipality in April 2024 includes three graduates respectively from Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), South China University of Technology, and Guangdong University of Technology. They have been hired as cremation workers at the Guangzhou Municipality Funeral Services Centre. The employee from CUHK holds a master’s degree.
... each cohort is about 300 graduates, who mostly earn about 5,000 RMB monthly. Meals and accommodation are provided, with four days off in a month.
According to the staff at the Civil Affairs Bureau of Guangzhou Municipality, the position requires at least a vocational qualification, indicating keen competition for the role. A netizen jokingly commented that “it is unbelievable that highflyers from renowned universities actually fought tooth and nail to work in a crematorium!”
Still, Zhao Yuceng, a teacher at Chongqing City Management College, notes that the employment of graduates of the college’s modern funeral technology and management programme is basically 100%.
The job does not pay exceptionally well either. Many employees in the industry agree that compensation is not attractive. In June 2023, Chinanews.com quoted a Changsha Social Work College funeral management graduate Li Qin (pseudonym) as saying that each cohort is about 300 graduates, who mostly earn about 5,000 RMB monthly. Meals and accommodation are provided, with four days off in a month. There is no fixed established structure in employment, and career advancement depends on the individual.
She adds, “There are rumours on the Internet that we make tens of thousands of RMB a month. However, only a few outstanding graduates in each cohort can do so; only a mere 10% of the graduates can earn more than 10,000 RMB [US$1,364] a month. It is also a myth that body handlers earn 800 RMB for a day shift and 1,000 RMB for a night shift.”
Yang Yucheng, a mortician with 12 years’ experience in Guizhou, says that “the incomes of morticians and cremation workers are generally higher, ranging from 6,000 to 10,000 RMB where I work, and may be higher at 20,000 RMB in tier-one and tier-two cities. Income is based on a fixed salary and performance, where the performance salary increases with the number of bodies handled.”
“While the income may be slightly higher than the average wage, the funeral industry pays proportionately to the effort. One has to be on call 24/7 even on public holidays,” he adds.
“I had a love interest and interacted well with her on the internet, but once we started dating and she found out that I work at a funeral parlour, she left immediately and never contacted me again.” — A netizen who works in the industry
Growing funeral industry still faces societal stigmatisation
China’s ageing population is driving the funeral industry’s growth, but prejudice and discrimination against it persist in some parts of society.
In July 2024, CCTV.com quoted a 25-year-old Hangzhou funeral parlour worker Lü Xiaoning as saying that she has not told anyone but her parents about her job. Even her grandparents are unaware. “The older generations see it as ‘inauspicious’. Since I work far away from home and hardly return home, I can handle others’ prejudice but I cannot subject my family to discrimination because of my job,” she says.
Netizens who are in the same industry echo her sentiments, with one commenting that “Friends and relatives will ask whether I am frightened at my job. I am now tired of explaining!”. Another netizen shared his personal experience, lamenting: “I had a love interest and interacted well with her on the internet, but once we started dating and she found out that I work at a funeral parlour, she left immediately and never contacted me again.”
Hongxing News also reports that students of funeral management programmes have previously been ridiculed by other students, who labelled them as “death workers” or “crematorium workers”. They are even shunned during meals.
CCTV.com has cited the analysis by Sun Shuren, honorary dean of the Life And Culture Institute at China Civil Affairs University. He explains that death is taboo in traditional Chinese culture. This results in a sense of mystery regarding the funeral industry, which feeds prejudices due to a lack of knowledge and understanding.
Fan Xiudi, director of the Education Evaluation And Research Centre of Tongji University, believes that prejudices against the funeral industry also stems from a lack of robust vocational education in China and public misunderstanding of vocational education.
However, prevailing negative stereotypes are not just limited to stigmatisation. Some people also associate the funeral industry with profiteering and corruption.
... funeral supply manufacturers must offer bribes to secure contracts with funeral homes. The pricing of these items is also subject to price fixing, where funeral parlour directors and manufacturers collude to raise their prices for larger profits. — Jiang Zhen (pseudonym), a former funeral parlour director
Rampant profiteering and corruption within the funeral industry
In August 2023, Business Insider published on its website that the British life insurer SunLife reported that the average funeral expenditure in China was about US$5,400 or 39,412 RMB, which was more than 45% of the average annual income. In comparison, funeral expenditure was 12% of average annual income in the US, and 10% of average annual income globally.
Lanjing News explains that apart from basic cremation, extended services such as funeral supplies and burial plots are most susceptible to profiteering.
Workers’ Daily quotes the Ministry of Civil Affairs that due to the lack of operational flexibility, official funeral services are clearly at a disadvantage when competing with commercial “one-stop funeral services”. As the advantage of “one-stop funeral services” lies mainly in offering and meeting the extended needs of consumers, they will charge higher fees. With the funeral industry now dominated by these one-stop service providers, the cost of funerals will likely continue to increase.
This unregulated profiteering also corresponds to corruption scandals in the funeral industry, which are occasionally exposed by the media.
In August 2024, China Newsweek reported that since the beginning of the year, at least 12 directors, deputy directors or former directors of funeral parlours as well as at least six directors, deputy directors or former directors of county funeral management offices have been investigated. Many of them have long been involved in the funeral industry.
Jiang Zhen (pseudonym), a former funeral parlour director who has worked in the industry for over 40 years, highlights that the funeral parlour director is responsible for all matters regarding labour, finances, funeral supplies and decisions to purchase. The director also has overwhelming influence regarding who to purchase from and quantities to purchase.
Jiang revealed that funeral supply manufacturers must offer bribes to secure contracts with funeral homes. The pricing of these items is also subject to price fixing, where funeral parlour directors and manufacturers collude to raise their prices for larger profits.
The primary reason this issue has gained traction in China is the country’s slowing economy, where employment opportunities are shrinking even as the number of university graduates continues to rise each year.
Jiang also shares that funeral parlours’ bidding process for purchasing funeral supplies are merely nominal as purchases are almost all internally predetermined. Funeral supplies that are good quality and inexpensive may not be available at funeral parlours. The price differences in cremation furnaces and other equipment are as high as hundreds of thousands to millions of yuan. Funeral parlour infrastructure construction and maintenance are also ways to rake in money.
As we return to the topic of the student choosing to study funeral management, it is also important to consider the broader context. The primary reason this issue has gained traction in China is the country’s slowing economy, where employment opportunities are shrinking even as the number of university graduates continues to rise each year. The funeral industry, typically shunned by young job seekers, has naturally become the focal topic of discussion due to its unique nature.
Viewed from another perspective, the popularity of funerary vocations is also reflective of societal changes. The funeral industry is starting to be viewed more positively, but it will be a while before its enduring stigmatisation lessens.
This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “高考601分选殡葬专业”.
