Session Chair, Flash Session: Life Course Health and Aging in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Thursday, May 7, 2026 • 9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Room 102 (subject to change)
Aging, Family, and Health Inequality
Jingwen Liu
Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Sociology
Rice University
Kraft Hall 345
jwliu@rice.edu
I am a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Rice University. I received my Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2024. My research focuses on aging and the life course, family demography, medical sociology, and social stratification and inequality. Leveraging national representative surveys, administrative records, and spatial data, I apply advanced quantitative methods to address theoretically driven questions from life-course, intersectional, and comparative perspectives.
My sole-authored papers have been published in the Journal of Marriage and Family and Social Science Research. My 2024 Journal of Marriage and Family paper received the ASA Best Student Paper Award from the Sociology of Mental Health Section in 2025.
Email / CV / Google Scholar / ResearchGate / Rice Profile
Research
My research agenda combines demographic and sociological inquiry with advanced quantitative methods to study how family structure, kin loss, and broader institutional contexts shape inequality across the life course.
- I examine family, kinlessness, and later-life health disparities in the United States, China and other societies. My dissertation reveals substantial gender and racial/ethnic heterogeneities in older adults’ vulnerability and resilience in the face of increased risks of aging alone in the U.S.
- I investigate how contextual forces, such as crime violence and social institutions (e.g., colleges/universities, military bases, and prisons/jails), shape family formation, fertility, and health in the U.S. and Mexico.
Upcoming Presentations & Professional Activities
I will attend the 2026 Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, and welcome opportunities to connect with colleagues and collaborators.
Presenter, “Stratified Safety Nets: Race/Ethnicity in the Dynamic Bidirectional Relationship between Multigenerational Coresidence and Parenting Stress”
Paper Session: Parenthood & Wellbeing
Friday, May 8, 2026 • 9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Room 240 (subject to change)
Presenter, “Unequal Loss: Bereavement Trajectories and Later-Life Health Disparities in China”
Paper Session: Demographic Change and Family Inequality in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Saturday, May 9, 2026 • 8:30 AM-9:45 AM
Room 280 (subject to change)
News
- Jan. 2026 Instructor of record for SOCI 377: Health Disparities in the United States
- Dec. 2025 Two papers accepted for presentation in PAA 2026
- Nov. 2025 Paper presented at GSA
- Aug. 2025 Paper presented at ASA
- Jul. 2025 Sole-authored paper published in Social Science Research
- Jun. 2025 Paper accepted for presentation at GSA 2025
- May 2025 Recipient of the ASA Best Student Paper Award from the Sociology of Mental Health Section
- Apr. 2025 Recipient of the PAA Best Poster Award
- Apr. 2025 Paper accepted for presentation in ASA 2025
Publications
Liu, Jingwen. 2025. “An Epidemic of Social Isolation? Age and Cohort Trends of Social Connectedness among Older Adults, 2004-2018” . Social Science Research. 131, 103212.
Liu, Jingwen. 2024. “Racial/Ethnic Differences in Living Arrangement, Distant Relations, and Later-Life Mental Health” . Journal of Marriage and Family. 86(2), 309-330.
Caudillo, Monica, Seungwan Kim, Jaein Lee, and Jingwen Liu. 2024. “Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Dyadic Pregnancy Intentions Preceding Births in the United States” . Population Research and Policy Review.
Liu, Jingwen and Zhiyong Lin. 2023. “Race/Ethnicity, Nativity, and Gender Disparities in Mental Health Trajectories from Mid- to Later-Life: A Life Course-Intersectional Approach” . Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.
Liu, Jingwen and Feinian Chen. 2021. “Intergenerational Caregiving Patterns, Living Arrangements, and Life Satisfaction of Adults in Mid and Later Life in China” . Research on Aging. 44(7-8), 545-559.
Teaching
In Spring 2026, I serve as the instructor of record for SOCI 377: Health Disparities in the United States.
I have extensive experience teaching and mentoring students across diverse disciplines and academic levels, including serving as a lab instructor for graduate-level statistics courses at the University of Maryland.
Community-Engaged Research Experience
