Michael Pergamit, a senior fellow in the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population at the Urban Institute, is a labor economist whose research is focused on vulnerable youth. He codirects an evaluation of a paid internship program for youth in Washington, DC, and Baltimore public schools; an evaluation of a mentoring/case management program in Washington, DC, and Maryland; and a demonstration involving pilot testing employment and training programs to aid disconnected youth. He was the project director for the Multi-Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs (Chafee evaluation) and is currently helping design the next set of evaluations. Previously, he led a project exploring the relationship between growing up in a vulnerable family and movements into education and the labor market as a young adult; a study predicting safe exits from shelters for runaway and homeless youth; a study examining correlates of early initiation into the labor market; and a labor market needs assessment of disadvantaged youth in Chicago.

Pergamit also works on issues of integrating and accessing public benefits and services. He currently codirects an evaluation of two programs providing housing and services to families involved in the child welfare system, as well as a study of multiple benefit use by low-income families.

Before joining Urban, Pergamit spent 10 years at the National Opinion Research Center and 13 years at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). For 10 years he was the director of the National Longitudinal Surveys at the BLS. He has a PhD from the University of Chicago.