My research lies at the intersection of sociology, demography, and political economy, with a focus on social stratification and inequality in housing systems. I am particularly interested in how socioeconomic transformations—such as financialization, welfare retrenchment, and housing market volatility—shape micro-level experiences of insecurity, advantage, and life chances.
I am working on the following topics:
Economic insecurity has become a defining feature of post-crisis context, yet the protective role of housing wealth remains insufficiently understood. This study examines whether housing functions as a private buffer against economic insecurity and how this effect depends on household debt and institutional context.
Working paper:
Li, Yuting. (in preparing) Buffer or Burden? The Conditional Function of Housing Wealth in Economic Insecurity Across Europe
How do housing and wealth inequality shape demographic behaviour? I explore the relationship between housing and fertility, with a focus on China and Nordic countries.
Working paper:
Li, Y., Carlsson, E., & Nisén, J. (Under review) Housing tenure, housing satisfaction, and fertility intentions in the Nordic context of the early 2020s, submitted to Demographic Research
Publication:
Fang, C. & Li, Y. (2024). Social inequalities and the societal context of fertility costs: The structural mechanism of lowest-low fertility. [in Chinese]《利益分化与育儿成本的情境性：低生育率的结构成因》Hebei Academic Journal, (04),175–81. (CSSCI)
This project investigates how financialization—the growing role of financial markets, logics, and institutions—reshapes housing and amplifies wealth inequality. I examine both macro-level dynamics (e.g., credit expansion) and micro-level mechanisms (e.g. mortgage debt, ownership norms), focusing on how housing serves as a key site of stratification across class and generation.
Working paper:
Li, Yuting, Fang, Changchun. & Ma, Yixuan. (in preparing) Housing financialisation, mortgage behaviour, and wealth inequality in urban China
This research examines the heterogeneity of intergenerational housing transfers in China, focusing on differences across generations, urban-rural divides, gender, and sibling configurations. We explore how family transfers reproduce class privilege, shape housing careers, and vary across institutional contexts.
Working paper:
Li, Yuting., & Qin, Zhuowen. (in preparing) Heterogeneity in Intergenerational Transmission of Housing Inequality: Evidence from Cohort Study in China (1935-2003) (with)