From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishon the backs of somebodyon the backs of somebodyusing the work of a particular group to achieve something that they will not get any advantage from Economic prosperity was won on the backs of the urban poor. → back
Examples from the Corpus
on the backs of somebody• It is clearly unfair that so much tax in the Third World falls on the backs of those least able to pay.• For a while she stood next to the coal stove and warmed her hands on the backs of her legs.• The wood for the hedge arrived not on the backs of the hedge-builders but in the boot of their Ford Cortina.• Print your music on candy wrappers or on the backs of daguerreotypes.• He ignores the kids whose feet are propped on the backs of chairs.• In toads, for instance, the males sit on the backs of females for a few days before the female lays her eggs.• Palm trees sway on the backs of countless cotton shirts.• John Betjeman scribbled verses on the backs of envelopes and read them aloud in his car. 