Policy Topics

Social safety net

Social safety net

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Showing 1 - 30 of 45 results

Margaret Dewar

Professor Emerita of Urban Planning, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
[email protected]
734-763-2528
Margaret Dewar’s research is in the broad areas of economic development, housing and community development, urban environmental planning and urban land use. Her current projects address remaking cities following abandonment and strengthening deterior...
Margaret Dewar headshot
Staff

Jennifer Erb-Downward

Director of Housing Stability Programs and Policy Initiatives
Jennifer Erb-Downward is the director of housing stability programs and policy initiatives at Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan. Her work focuses on the intersection of housing, health, and education with an emphasis on cross-system col...
Jennifer Erb-Downward
Staff

Amanda Nothaft

Director of Data & Analysis
Amanda Nothaft has extensive experience in data analysis and policy evaluation and has worked across multiple levels of government and a wide variety of policy stakeholders. Prior to joining Poverty Solutions, Nothaft worked on projects as diverse as...
Amanda Nothaft
Faculty Directors

Natasha Pilkauskas

Associate Faculty Director, Poverty Solutions; Professor of Public Policy
[email protected]
Natasha Pilkauskas is associate faculty director at Poverty Solutions and a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Her research considers how demographic, social safety net, and economic shi...
Natasha Pilkauskas
Faculty Directors

Kristin Seefeldt

Faculty Director of Poverty Solutions; Associate Professor of Social Work; Associate Professor of Public Policy; Faculty Associate, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research
[email protected]
734-615-2113
Kristin S. 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 ...
Kristin Seefeldt
Faculty Affiliates

Sumit Agarwal

Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Medical School and School of Public Health
[email protected]
Dr. Sumit Agarwal, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D. is a primary care physician, health economist, and assistant professor at the University of Michigan Medical School and School of Public Health. Agarwal’s research examines the impact of social, economic, and in...
Headshot of Sumit Agarwal
Faculty Affiliates

Katherine Bauer

Associate Professor of Nutritional Sciences
[email protected]
734-763-2546
Katherine (Kate) W. Bauer is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on the prevention of childhood obesity, which severely disproportionately impacts children in poverty. Much of her work focuses on the role of families in children's and adolescent...
Photo of Katherine Bauer
Faculty Affiliates

Luciana de Souza Leão

Assistant Professor of Sociology
[email protected]
Luciana de Souza Leão is an assistant professor in the sociology department at U-M. She is a political and comparative sociologist with broad interests in knowledge-making processes, social inequalities, and the state. Her three main areas of researc...
Photo of Luciana de Souza Leão
Faculty Affiliates

William Elliott

Professor of Social Work; Director, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Social Science
William Elliott III professor of Social Work and director of the Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Social Science. He is also the founder of the Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion (AEDI). He received his Ph.D. and master’s in social w...
William Elliott III
Faculty Affiliates

Sara Heller

Associate Professor of Economics
[email protected]
734-764-0241
Sara Heller studies interventions to reduce crime and improve other life outcomes among disadvantaged youth. She uses large-scale experiments to isolate the causal effects of a variety of programs, including cognitive behavioral therapy-based interve...
Sara Heller
Faculty Affiliates

William Lopez

Clinical Associate Professor, U-M School of Public Health; Faculty Associate, U-M Department of Latino/a Studies
William D. Lopez is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and faculty associate in the Department of Latina/o Studies. His research and teaching center on racial health inequities, especially those exper...
William Lopez
Faculty Affiliates

Robert Manduca

Assistant Professor of Sociology; Faculty Associate, Population Studies Center; Faculty Associate, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research
Robert Manduca is an assistant professor in U-M's Department of Sociology. His research asks why some people and some places are more economically prosperous than others. His recent work examines the role that national policy decisions play in determ...
Photo of Robert Manduca
Faculty Affiliates

Katherine Michelmore

Associate Professor of Public Policy; Faculty Associate, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research
Katherine Michelmore is an associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Michelmore is a leading scholar and educator on the social safety net, education policy, labor economics, and econ...
Katherine Michelmore
Faculty Affiliates

Pamela Smock

Professor of Sociology and Research Professor at the Population Studies Center
Pamela Smock is a professor of sociology and research professor at the Population Studies Center at U-M. Her scholarly interests lie at the intersection of demography and various axes of inequality. Her research focuses on changing family pattern...
Photo of Pamela Smock
Faculty Affiliates

Rebeccah Sokol

Associate Professor of Health Behavior and Health Equity and Associate Professor of Social Work
Rebeccah Sokol is an associate professor at the University of Michigan's School of Social Work and School of Public Health. Sokol’s program of research focuses on evaluating strategies to alleviate youth adversity and trauma, including preventing chi...
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In the Media

Hillary Clinton: How to Fix Affordability

Apr 9, 2026 New York Times
American families are raising children now, in an economy where both parents work to make ends meet and child care costs rival rent, in a country with no national paid leave and in a digital world they cannot control. Instead of lectures, families ne...
Rx Kids launch press conference. From left to right: Mama Sol, Ridgway White, Luke Shaefer, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Flint mom, Alana Turner, Mona Hanna-Attisha, Teresa Woodruff, Sheldon Neeley, a Flint mom, Day Austin, and Jim Ananich.

No Strings art exhibit reception

May 30, 2026, 1:00-3:00 pm EDT
Ann Arbor Artist Studio
No Strings is an art exhibit that illustrates quotes from guaranteed income recipients about what an extra $528 per month in no-strings-attached cash meant to them, as part of the Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor (GIG A2) pilot program. The art was created by U-M students under the guidance of artist Katie Hammond. The exhibit was curated by Poverty Solutions at U-M, which designed the pilot and is evaluating the impact of GIG A2. At the reception, you can view and respond to the art as well as hear more about how the project came together.
No Strings artists from left to right: Emma Ostermeyer, Victoria Sung, Lila Hudgins, Katie Hammond, Mia Echlin, Mrinaalika Sivakumar, and Lauren Parker. (Michigan Photography)