The baby boom generation is set to leave a wave of funeral debt to its children and grandchildren, a report warns.

The number of deaths every year in Britain – which have been falling for the past 40 years – will rise by 20 per cent over the next two decades, as the lives of unprecedented numbers born in the post-baby boom come to an end.

At the same time the price of a funeral is rising fast, thanks to higher costs for cremation, rising undertakers’ bills as funeral firms are faced with bad debts, and the increasing fees demanded by churches.

Loss of baby boomers: The number of UK deaths per will rise by 20 per cent over the next two decades, as funeral costs have already risen by 80 per cent over the past ten years

The report, prepared by an old age think tank, the International Longevity Centre-UK, and backed by insurance firm OneFamily, suggests that younger people who already feel financially hard pressed in comparison to their parents will still be under money pressure even after their deaths.

Younger people are finding it increasingly difficult to afford homes or to start families, and in the long-term their pensions are much less secure than those of their parents, many of whom enjoyed the generous and fast-disappearing defined benefit pension system.

The report from ILC-UK to be published next week said that death rates are set to go up following a long period in which medical advances, better diet, healthier lifestyles and the growing unpopularity of smoking, and the decline of dangerous heavy industrial jobs, have meant fewer people have been dying despite a rising population.

‘After decades of the number of deaths in the UK falling, 2015 will mark a tipping point where the historic trend starts to reverse,’ it said.

‘As the oldest of the baby boomer generation move through their later years, deaths are predicted to rise by 20 per cent.’

Expensive end: A ‘simple’ funeral, with a cremation, a minister and an undertaker, now costs an average of £3,590, an old age think tank has found

It added: ‘This will have significant implications for current forecasts of funeral costs and highlights a growing need for families to broach the delicate subject of end of life expenses.’

Baroness Sally Greengross of ILC-UK said: ‘More than half of UK households have less than £3,000 in savings and many will struggle to cover funeral costs.

‘We all need to talk more about dying and ensure we are prepared for the inevitable. State support for funerals is complex and inadequate and without reforms will contribute to more people falling victim to funeral debt.’

The report said that funeral costs have already risen by 80 per cent over the past 10 years and costs are set to go up further. A ‘simple’ funeral, with a cremation, a minister and an undertaker, now costs an average of £3,590, it found.

However a family that wants to throw in a memorial stone, death notices, flowers, limousines, a wake and somewhere to hold it, is likely to be looking at spending almost £2,000 more. An average ‘full works’ funeral now costs £5,423, the report said.

Costs are going up, it found, partly for technical reasons. Crematoria now need to cover costs for removing fillings from the teeth of the dead, for example, because they must remove mercury from the body before disposal.

Funeral firms are under growing costs pressures, not least because some families cannot or will not pay their bills, and the fees for a Church of England vicar to conduct the funeral went up in 2013 from £102 to £160.