Parents’ marital disruption and children’s educational aspiration in Korea

In this study, we analyze how parents’ marital dissolution can affect their children’s educational aspiration from sixth to twelfth grades, using the Korean Educational Longitudinal Study of 2005 (KELS:2005). Results from a two-level growth-curve model indicate that the effect of parents’ divorce on children’s educational aspiration is significantly more detrimental than a parents’ death is. For both genders, the gap in educational aspirations between adolescents with married parents and those with divorced parents becomes larger over time. But, this differential appears to be more pronounced among girls than boys. Also, parents’ socioeconomic resources raise the initial level of educational aspirations, but they do not affect post-divorce changes.