The Administrative Burden of Public Sector Death Management

Abstract

Administrative burdens emerge in citizen-state interactions, and one area with burdens for both providers and users is deathcare. Death managers deal with dirty work daily, so often suffer stigmatization. They also are often low resourced and face incredible burnout and stress. Families and loved ones face the burden of death-related paperwork and burial. This research draws on U.S. deathcare professionals’ knowledge to introduce dirty work costs to the existing administrative burden framework, while also offering a research agenda to uncover and ideally reduce administrative burdens for both citizens and death managers.