Many elder religious worked for years for small stipends. Their sacrifices over many decades now leave their religious communities with a significant gap in retirement funding. Additionally, market-related declines in savings and a reduction in the number of religious able to serve in compensated ministry has resulted in an ongoing loss of income for many communities.
In 2009, fewer than seven percent of the 573 religious institutes providing data to the National Religious Retirement Office were adequately funded for retirement.