Lei Lei

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | Rutgers · Department of Sociology

Using data from the 2013 through 2021 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Transition into Adulthood Supplement (PSID-TAS), this study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual activity among young adults. Particular attention is given to the mechanisms that might explain the decline in sexual activity during the pandemic. We fi...

Religion is an important cultural institution that shapes family ideologies and behaviors. Although previous research has documented religious differences in parenting behaviors and parent–child relationships in adolescence, how religion influences parental support of young adult children is not clear. Using data from the Transition into Adulthood...

The COVID‐19 pandemic has disrupted people's lives through economic challenges, closure of worksites and schools and increased health risks. These disruptions can trigger new residential needs and preferences, but little research has been done regarding the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on moving intentions. We theorized how the pandemic could in...

Previous research on the health impact of activity space assumed that individuals conduct daily activities outside residential neighborhoods. Little is known about whether and for whom this assumption holds, let alone whether neighborhood effects vary by individual activity space experiences. Using data in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, we ide...

Many developing countries have experienced increasing spatial inequality, but little is known about the effect of community disadvantages on educational attainment in these societies. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (2010–2016), I examine the effect of community socioeconomic status (SES) on the transition into high school in urban a...

In developing countries, labor out-migration has led to millions of married couples living apart from each other. Male out-migration brings economic benefits to the families in places of origin, but also leads to profound changes in the lives of the left-behind wives. It is unclear how the husband’s out-migration influences the health of wives, let...

The urban structure in China has been transformed profoundly through rounds of economic reforms. Over the past 60 years, various types of neighborhoods have emerged at different stages of economic and social transition. Formed and organized in different ways, these neighborhoods provide distinct economic, social, and physical environments to reside...

Fewer young adults are engaging in casual sexual intercourse now than in the past, but the reasons for this decline are unknown. The authors use data from the 2007 through 2017 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Transition into Adulthood Supplement to quantify some of the proximate sources of the decline in the likelihood that unpartnered...

Research on youth in disadvantaged neighborhoods suggests that community contexts can affect youth’s beliefs about what it takes to get ahead. Nevertheless, a systematic analysis of such beliefs across a variety of communities remains rare. Using data from the China Family Panel Study from 2010 to 2014, we examine how individual characteristics, co...

Research on leaving home among young adults has mainly focused on the timing of departures rather than the distance that young adults move when they leave the parental home and establish independent households. We draw on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) Transition to Adulthood Supplement (TAS) (2005–2015) and the Geospatial Matc...

Objective The main goal of this study is to identify the causes of the decline in sexual activity among young adults in the United States. Background The frequency with which young adults have sexual intercourse has declined over recent decades, but the sources of this trend are not well understood. Trends in economic insecurity, relationship form...

Background: Due to international and internal migration, millions of children in developing countries are geographically separated from one or both of their parents. Prior research has not reached a consensus on the impacts of parental out-migration on children's growth, and little is known about how community contexts modify the impact of parenta...

This study uses data from the 2005 through 2015 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics' Transition to Adulthood supplement to examine the association between young adults' living arrangements and their likelihood of moving. Compared with young adults who live with their parents, young adults who live independently are about twice as likely to...

Indian women's labor force participation is extremely low, and women are much less likely than men to work in the nonfarm sector. Earlier research has explained women's labor supply by individual characteristics, social institutions, and cultural norms, but not enough attention has been paid to the labor market opportunity structure that constrains...

While living with co-ethnics benefits minorities' health, the so-called ethnic density effect, little is known about the mechanisms through which neighborhood ethnic density influences self-rated health. We examine two pathways, namely neighborhood social capital and health behaviors, with a 2010 survey collected in Philadelphia (2297 blacks and 49...

Along with the economic reforms, rapid urbanization, and the growth of a free land market, Chinese cities witness new forms of neighborhood poverty and increasing residential segregation by social class, migration status, and housing tenure. But little is known about the consequences of the growing social-spatial differentiation for children's educ...

The link between community environment and individual health outcomes has been widely documented in Western literature, but little is known about whether community context influences children's health over and above individual characteristics in developing countries. This study examines how community socioeconomic status (SES) influences children's...

Background: Although Black and Hispanic young adults in the U.S. are less likely than Whites to move out of the parental home and more likely than Whites to return, reasons for these differences have not been clearly identified. Objective: This study examines the ability of racial/ethnic disparities in life course transitions, socioeconomic reso...

The percentage of young American adults residing in their parents’ home has increased markedly over recent years, but we know little about how sociodemographic, life-course, and parental characteristics facilitate or impede leaving or returning home. We use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics’ Transition into Adulthood survey...

Due to various barriers that keep homeless people away from regular work, a considerable proportion of them resort to day labor or subsistence “work,” such as peddling and panhandling, to earn income. Using the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (NSHAPC) data, this study compares the personal characteristics of currently h...

Traditionally, in the patriarchal Chinese family system, sons, rather than daughters, are expected to take the major responsibility for taking care of parents. However, demographic changes, economic development, and cultural transitions may have altered the traditional gender patterns of providing support to parents. This study examines the gender...

The imbalanced sex ratio of the population in China has become a serious problem for the society. In recent decades considerably more male babies than female babies have been born in China due to people's preference for having male children. This trend is more prominent in rural areas than in urban areas. In this paper, we try to understand why rur...