Our Team

TITLE: Associate Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, Faculty Associate, Survey Research Center, Faculty Associate, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy and Center Director, Poverty Center

H. Luke Shaefer is an Associate Professor at the U-M School of Social Work and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the inaugural director of Poverty Solutions. His research on poverty and social welfare policy in the U.S. has been published in top peer-reviewed academic journals including the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management and Health Services Research, and has been supported by the National Science Foundation. Shaefer has presented his research at the White House and before numerous federal agencies, has testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, and has consulted with a number of the nation’s largest social service providers as well as numerous community-based agencies. His work has also been cited in national news outlets and he has been featured on such programs as Marketplace and CNBC’s Nightly Business Report. His recent book with Kathryn Edin, $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, was named one of the 100 Notable Books of 2015 by the New York Times Book Review and won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism.

Luke’s Website