Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan
Joan and Sanford Weill Hall
Associate Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work; Associate Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Dr. Seefeldt’s primary research interests lie in exploring how low-income individuals understand their situations, particularly around issues related to work and economic well-being. Her most recent book, “Abandoned Families: Social Isolation in the 21st Century” examines the ways in which political and economic changes have altered the pathways of opportunity for low-income families.Through in-depth interviews over a six-year period with women in Detroit, Seefeldt charts the increasing social isolation of many low-income workers, particularly African Americans, and analyzes how economic and residential segregation keep them from achieving the American Dream of upward mobility. In addition to numerous journal articles, she is also the author of “Working After Welfare,” which discusses employment and work-family balance challenges among former welfare recipients, and a co-author of “America’s Poor and the Great Recession.”
Ph.D. and M.P.P. University of Michigan; B.A. Georgetown University
The Partnership on Economic Mobility between Poverty Solutions and the City of Detroit is a joint effort to identify and implement concrete, evidence-based strategies that significantly improve economic opportunity and reduce poverty in Detroit.
Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor (GIG A2) is a two-year pilot that provides monthly payments of $528 to 100 Ann Arbor entrepreneurs and gig workers with low incomes, starting in January 2024. Another 100 people from the eligible applicant pool will participate in a randomized controlled trial, without receiving the monthly payments.
Led by co-Principal Investigators Kristin Seefeldt, William Lopez, and Rebeccah Sokol, the study of GIG A2 will assess how people spend the monthly payments as well as how the cash affects their entrepreneurial activities and various dimensions of health and well-being.
GIG A2 is funded by American Rescue Plan Act funds from the City of Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. Steady is administering the monthly payments. Numerous community organizations including Ann Arbor District Library, Entrepreneurship Center at Washtenaw Community College, Express Your Yes Foundation, Friends in Deed, and Groundcover News have advised on the pilot program.
