Research Interests

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Yang's research examines family and work changes and inequalities in a global context, including:

1. Intersectional inequalities in family and work lives across the lines of gender, sexuality, ethnicity/race, age, and migrant status.

2. The implications of digitalisation and AI (artificial intelligence) for family and work lives and inequalities.

3. The role of crises (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters) in reproducing existing and giving rise to new forms of intersectional inequalities in family and work lives.

Yang takes two approaches to the 'global' in his research – the first features a cross-national comparative scope and the second focuses on transnational mobilities. His research contributes to advancing family and work equity and justice. It advances understandings of how macro socio-economic, political and institutional developments and cultural changes, as well as emergent crises, (re)configure everyday work and family lives. His recent research has been published in journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, Gender & Society, Demography, Journal of Marriage and Family, and European Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, among others.

Yang's research has received funding (> £1.5 million) from the UKRI/ESRC (UK), SSHRC (Canada), British Academy (UK), HEFCE (UK), and Nuffield Foundation (UK).

Yang is an editorial board member of the Journal of Marriage and Family (2020–) and formerly Sociology (2020–2022) and Sociology Compass (2020–2022).

Yang's research has received broad coverage by more than 100 global media outlets, including the BBC, Guardian, CNN, ABC, CNA, Time Magazine, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, United Press, Global Times, German National Radio (see Yang's website for a full list).

At Lancaster, Yang is also affiliated with:

• Centre for Child and Family Justice Research

• Data Science Institute

• Centre for Gender and Women's Studies

• Centre for Mobilities Research and the Migrancy Research Group

• Lancaster University China Centre

• Centre for Alternatives to Social and Economic Inequalities