Absentee fathers in Mississippi cost taxpayers hundreds of millions each year

A new report from Mississippi’s state auditor shows that taxpayers in the state foot the bill for current and future costs associated with absent fathers.

State Auditor Shad White released “Dads Matter: The Taxpayer Cost of Fatherlessness,” which details how state taxpayers are forced to foot the bill for $700 million annually due to children growing up without having a father. There are more than 250,000 children in the state who live in a home with no father.

“Mississippians know that engaged fathers are critical for the well-being of children,” White said in a news release. “The added discipline and income that comes from two committed parents is important for everyone to understand. But it’s particularly important for taxpayers to understand, because they often bear the cost of broken homes.”

According to the report, the cost to taxpayers is a result of boys without a father being more likely to be incarcerated, and more than $180 million per year is spent on fatherless men in prison. In addition, fatherless children who do not graduate high school cost the state a potential $292,000 yearly in tax revenue and other societal costs.

Taxpayers, according to the report, are likely to lose $560 million to fatherless students who have dropped out of school.

According to the report, the cyclical issue of fatherlessness faces taxpayers around the nation, and in Mississippi the Office of the State Auditor utilized the Junior Reserve Office Training Corps (ROTC) as a tool to help interrupt the cycle, according to an August 2020 report.

In Mississippi, the report shows, fatherless girls are more likely to become teen mothers, and taxpayers paid more than $50 million on foster care as a result of fatherless teen mothers in 2019.

"I have single mothers in my own family, and they worked tirelessly to raise their children,” White said in the release. “This report doesn’t take away from their herculean efforts. But men – and taxpayers – in Mississippi need to see the sad results when dads do not show up for their kids.”