According to a recent report, the average taxpayer is footing the bill for parents who don’t take care of their responsibilities.

From CNN Money

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Over $100 billion is owed in unpaid child support — nearly half of that to taxpayers supporting children on public assistance.

According to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, $108 billion in total back payments was owed to parents with custody of children in 2009.

If those payments aren’t made and the children then need to go on public assistance, payments are supposed to be made to the government in the form of reimbursement. About 49% of that back money — or roughly $53 billion — is owed to the government, according to Joan Entmacher, vice president of family & economic security of the National Women’s Law Center.

That’s a raw deal for taxpayers. But for the mothers owed — 82% of custodial parents are women — it’s the severing of an economic lifeline.