Core Research Grants — Social, Political, and Economic Inequality

Supports social science research on the causes and consequences of rising economic inequality, including work on poverty, wages, safety-net policy and political and social stratification in the United States.

Indicative award

$50k–$200k (total award)Two award sizes on the linked budget page: Presidential grants up to $50,000, or up to $75,000 where the project involves labor-intensive data collection or restricted-use data access; Trustee grants capped at $200,000. Indirect costs up to 15% only on grants over $75,000, and not on data purchases,

Timing

Several times a yearSeveral times a year · Mar, Jul, OctPublished deadline: 2026-10-28 — 74 days awayLetters of inquiry are due at 2pm ET on published dates. The SPEI (inequality) and Future of Work programs share the March 11, 2026 and October 28, 2026 LOI dates; other programs use the October 2025 and July 15, 2026 dates.

Who can apply

Any faculty rank, Early-career faculty, Mid-career & senior

Eligibility

All PIs and Co-PIs must hold a doctorate; RSF may exceptionally consider applicants without doctorates who show strong scholarly credentials. No nationality or location restrictions apply to Core Research Grants.

SSWR clusters

Topics

economic inequality · poverty · safety net policy · wages · social policy

Apply at

https://www.russellsage.org/research/priorities

This entry

Curated by the working group. Written 2026-08-07. The funder link has not yet been machine-checked.

Amounts and dates on this page are indicative and are maintained by people rather than scraped. Funders change ceilings, windows and eligibility without notice; confirm all details at the source above before applying.

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Core Research Grants — Social, Political, and Economic Inequality

Also on the Inequality, Poverty, and Social Welfare Policy shelf