"these days" - what is the correct usage/meaning?

Solution 1:

"These days" just means presently, at the present time, now, etc. It is used as a contrast to a discussion of things in the past.

Your passage about funerals starts out talking about the traditional of funerals, and contrasts what they have been ("a celebration of the life of the deceased") vs. what they are now ("these days families and friends often use the time to celebrate life using popular music, film and media").

Another example showing the then/now contrast:

When I was young we used to walk to school, ten miles in the snow, uphill both ways. These days kids get to ride in warm, comfortable buses.