Michael Pergamit, a senior fellow in the Family and Financial Well-Being Division at the Urban Institute, is a labor economist whose research is focused on the transition to adulthood, child welfare services, housing and homelessness, and asset development. He also leads or advises on program evaluations using experimental, quasi-experimental, and nonexperimental methods.

Pergamit currently leads a set of randomized controlled trial evaluations to build evidence on what works in child welfare to reduce the use of foster care and keep children with their families and support youth aging out of foster care in transitioning to independent living. He also leads multiple studies examining the provision of supportive housing to families in the child welfare system.

Before joining Urban, Pergamit was research vice president for economic studies at the National Opinion Research Center and division chief and director of longitudinal research at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, where he oversaw the National Longitudinal Surveys.

Pergamit holds a BA from the University of Washington. He earned an MA and a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.