The cost of living bites hard even after death, with burial costs so high that some families are increasingly not having funerals, instead even giving bodies to science.

Research by the University of Canterbury found a basic funeral was a pipe dream for some, as government grants for poor families lagged behind surging funeral costs.

Study author Dr Ruth McManus said many families went into debt to cover the cost of a funeral, and would resort to DIY solutions to bring down the cost.

"The biggest grant you can get is about $2000," she said.

"The average, bog-standard funeral - basic casket, no flowers, nothing fancy - costs about $6000.

"So there's always a huge gap, and that's the problem: the grant doesn't cover the basic costs."

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Grieving families were having to make difficult financial decisions under stressful circumstances.

Some would take out loans or apply for a grant, while a small number would consider selling assets or donating the deceased's body for medical purposes.

Low-income families can apply for a grant through Work and Income to help with the cost of a funeral.

The grant is determined by the income of the deceased.

Of those surveyed by McManus and who had applied for a grant, 100 per cent agreed the experience was "very difficult".

For respondent Tracy, going through the grant process when a relative died was stressful.

"It was left for my mother to manage . . . she didn't have any information and was in a state of shock and grief at the time," she said. "This just added further trauma and depression to her state."

Funeral Directors Association chief executive Katrina Shanks said it was impossible to be buried for less than $5000 in some parts of the country.

"The simple fact is in many regions the cost of a burial plot alone is over $2000," she said.

"So for those low-income families looking for a grant from the government, it doesn't even cover the cost of a burial plot, let alone anything else to do with a funeral."

The grant had increased alongside the consumer price index, she said, but some cemetery costs had increased by up to 120 per cent.

Association president Gavin Murphy, of Gee & Hickton in Hutt Valley, said the size of the Work and Income grant was an issue the association had raised with Social Development Minister Paula Bennett.

She set up a working group last year to see what more the Government could be doing in this area, he said.

"It's definitely on the agenda." There was no doubt the $2000 grant was nowhere near enough.

Most Wellington funeral bills were in the $8000 to $11,000 range, with burial costs alone in the $1500 to $5000 bracket, Murphy said.

The solution was to start pre-paying one's funeral early - something Kiwis were notoriously bad at doing.

In America, about 50 per cent of funerals were pre-planned.

In Australia that number was about 20 per cent, while in New Zealand it was about 5 per cent, Murphy said.