Research
My research investigates how work and family life shape people’s health. It sits at the intersection of the sociology of work, social demography, and social epidemiology.
The Sociology of Work Orientation
Focusing on working-time mismatch and non-standard work arrangements in contemporary labor markets, and examining how these working conditions affect workers’ health and wellbeing.
Relevant working papers and publications:
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Wanying Ling, Senhu Wang, Zhuofei Lu. 2025. Working Time Mismatch and Employee Subjective Well-being Across Institutional Contexts: A Job Quality Perspective. Work, Employment and Society.
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Wanying Ling, Senhu Wang, Shuanglong Li. 2024. Diversity Patterns in Non-Standard Employment and Their Relationship with Self-Rated Health in Urban China from 2010 to 2021 Social Science & Medicine. 116827.
Social Demography Orientation
Analyzing how different types of wealth and liabilities influence family formation processes, and how these resource configurations in turn shape the health and wellbeing of individuals and families.
Relevant working papers and publications:
- Wanying Ling, Tarani Chandola, Senhu Wang. Stock and Flow Wealth in Ideal Spouse Perceptions: Comparative Evidence from East Asia.
Oral presentation at the Tri-University Conference: Social Change and Social Inequality in East Asia (Tokyo, Japan, Jan 2026).
- Jiaowei Gong, Wanying Ling, Yang Zhang. Gendered Wealth and Depression in China: The Symbolic and Economic Dimensions.
Oral presentation at the 30th International Population Conference (Brisbane, Australia, Jul 2025), entitled The Wealthier, The Psychologically Healthier? Assets, Debt, and Depression in Urban and Rural China..
Social Epidemiology Orientation
Using a wide range of health indicators to describe how health inequalities emerge and accumulate over the life course.
Relevant working papers and publications:
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Tarani Chandola, Wanying Ling, Patrick Rouxel. 2025. Are anxious Mondays associated with HPA-axis dysregulation? A longitudinal study of older adults in England Journal of Affective Disorders. 119611.
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Wanying Ling. 2023. Expansion or compression? Understanding inequalities in healthy life expectancy for the Chinese elderly from a life course perspective.
Oral presentation at the Annual China Population Society Conference 2023 (Shanxi, China, July 2023), entitled Expansion or compression? Investigating healthy life expectancy of Chinese elderly from a life course perspective.
Methodology Orientation
Exploring novel ways to observe and measure human behaviour to better understand the complex mechanisms underlying work, family, and health.
Relevant working papers and publications:
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Wanying Ling, Sizhan Cui. 2025. The Limits of Replication: The Possibility and Feasibility of Silicon Samples (In Chinese). Journal of Intelligent Society.
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Wanying Ling, Senhu Wang, Qi Xu. Are Large Language Model-Generated Survey Respondents Feasible? Evidence from a Cross-National Factorial Survey Experiment on Fertility Intentions.
Tools, Codes and Notes
- (tools) ChineseDemopædia: Chinese-based Demographic Dictionary
- (notes) Notes for Decomposition of Differentials in Health Expectancies from Multistate Life Tables
Reading List
A curated reading list of mine.