Does Your Pastor Get Paid Family Leave? Not Likely.

A father comforts a crying baby. Photo: Ink Drop / Alamy

In a country with the weakest parental leave standards of all its economic peers, church policy to support new parents is rarely more generous than what one might get from a public school, an architecture firm, or a dentist’s office. In many cases there is no set policy, and ordained and lay staff are sometimes treated differently.

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An image of the November 2026 issue of Sojourners, titled "Face to Face." It features George Lakey on the cover
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