This study investigates the influence of changes in family structure on children’s educational
expenditure which is considered as a projection of parents’ educational solicitude. Changes in family
structure in Korea, where children’s education is an important familial event, are presumed to
influence parents’ educational expenditure toward children through changes of utilitarian familism.
This study demonstrates that changes in family structure is related to a considerable decrease in
educational expenditure. Decreased educational expenditure by changes in family structure is
mediated through a cut of family income. However, the loving relationship between parents and
children provide little influence over the mechanism between changes in family structure and parents’
educational expenditure. Emotional bonding between parents and children is devoted to
parents’educational expenditure for children only in panel of elementary students, but not in panel of
middle school students. This relation is significant in only single father family. This implies that the
absence of parents and the presence of step-parent do not influence parents’ educational expenditure
via loving relation between parents and children. Parent’s discriminative solicitude is effective
between step-parents and children.