A shock absorbing structure for a vehicle comprises a bumper reinforcement extending in a vehicle width direction, a pair of side members extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, a pair of crash boxes provided between the pair of side members and the bumper reinforcement, and the crash box including a crash box body being hollowed in a vertical direction so as to have a first opening, a second opening and side walls, wherein the bumper reinforcement is attached to one end of the crash box body, and a side member attachment flange is integrally formed at the other end of the crash box body, and a load adjusting plate fixed to the crash box body so as to cover at least one of the first opening and the second opening of the crash box body and to sandwich the side walls of the crash box body.