Plan-Demic: Post-COVID Brits more likely to openly discuss death and plan their legacy

Feb 22, 2023 by estvmag in Business

Brits are now more open to talking about their own death and are more likely to make plans for their final wishes and funeral, compared to before the pandemic, according to a new study.

The research, by Remember A Charity, explores Brits’ changing attitudes to life and death since the start of covid, finding that Brits are turning pandemic into plan-demic, with over a quarter (27%) now more likely to discuss their final wishes and funeral plans – climbing to almost a third (32%) amongst over 55s.

The national campaign, a group of almost 200 charities that works to inspire the public to consider leaving a gift in their will, also found that women (29%) are now more likely than men (24%) to address mortality issues, making plans for what lies ahead.

Death may traditionally be considered a taboo topic, but one in five (21%) UK residents no longer see it as such. However, a small proportion (8%) are still so uncomfortable with thinking about their own mortality that they say they can’t face writing a will.

Currently, the primary reason people give for not writing their will is that they just haven’t got round to it (18%). One in 10 respondents also stated that they feel that they don’t have enough assets to warrant writing one.

Top five reasons Brits give for not writing a will:

Rank	Reason	% of respondents
1^st	I have been meaning to write one, but I just have not got round to it	18%
2^nd	I am too young to write a will	16%
3^rd	I do not think I have enough assets to leave to someone else	11%
4^th	I do not know how to do it	10%
5^th	It has not crossed my mind to do so	9%

Becoming more charitable

Post the pandemic – which prompted even greater demand for charitable services across the UK – attitudes have further shifted, with the propensity for charitable giving also on the rise. 21% of Brits stated that covid has led them to become more likely to support charitable causes, and 19% say they want to leave the world a better place.

Remember A Charity’s longer-term benchmarking study from OKO – looking specifically at charity givers aged 40 and above – finds that more people are choosing to extend their giving beyond their own lifetime. 29% of those aged 40+ who have written a will now include a charitable gift – up from 25% in 2018.

And, this appears to be a growing trend across younger generations as over a third (37%) of 40-50-year-olds who have written a will say they have included a charitable gift – compared to a quarter (25%) of over 70s.