My research lies in the field of social stratification and mobility, focusing on housing, wealth, debt, low-fertility dynamics, and comparative welfare states from interdisciplinary views.
I am working on the following topics:
Economic insecurity is increasingly become a defining feature of post-crisis context, yet the protective role of wealth remains insufficiently understood. This study examines whether wealth functions as a private buffer against economic insecurity and how this buffer function moderates by debt, institutional context, and portfolio diversification.
Working paper:
Li, Yuting. (in preparing) Buffer or Burden? The Conditional Function of Wealth in Economic Insecurity Across Europe. [See Slides]
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. (R & R to Demographic Research) Housing tenure, housing satisfaction, and fertility intentions in the Nordic context of the early 2020s
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)