What law and policy changes do we need to take economic and social rights seriously?

Article 22 will identify changes to law and policy needed to secure economic and social rights in Britain. These include the right to:

• adequate housing, education, health, food, and social security
• an adequate standard of living
• workers’ rights

Economic and social rights are proclaimed in Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in a number of international treaties. The UK has voluntarily subscribed to many of these treaties. But successive governments have failed to bring these rights home.

The public's opinion about economic and social rights

This is despite the fact that most people care deeply about economic and social rights. Year after year, the Social Attitudes Survey shows a general concern about public services which are essential to fulfil these rights. A majority of the public:

• believe employers should pay wages that cover the cost of living
• support a national minimum wage increase
• support wage top-ups for low-earning single parents and working couples without children

Drafting a UK Bill of Economic and Social Rights

Peter Roderick and Koldo Casla are the convenors of the Article 22 project. Koldo is also the Policy Director of JustFair.

They are working with legal practitioners and academics around the country to draft a Bill on economic and social rights. The team is exploring ways to enhance the status of these rights based on relevant legislation and best practice from other countries.

Taking economic and social rights seriously requires significant changes in social security and housing. A radically different taxation system would also be needed, to ensure equal opportunities for everyone and to build a fair society.

Bringing home internationally recognised economic and social rights would change policy. It would have a positive impact on people’s lives. We would need to review and amend:

• the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016, restoring the link between social security entitlements and the costs of living
• the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, requiring residential rented dwellings to be fit for human habitation, and the abolition of no-fault evictions

Local authorities must consider how their decisions and policies increase inequalities in health, housing or access to work that arise from socio-economic disadvantages.

Why Newcastle?

Economic and social rights are social justice through human rights, and Newcastle is the right home for this project.

In November 2018, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Philip Alston, visited the UK. Newcastle University provided a written submission encouraging him to visit Newcastle and the North East. The submission - Visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights (PDF: 955KB) - states that:

• the North East is in the most deprived 20% of English local authority areas, ranked 53 out of 326
• more than 20% of Newcastle’s population live in areas that are among the 10% most deprived in the country

In the words of Dr Koldo Casla:

“Britain is the land of the Charter of the Forest, the Peasants’ Revolt and the Putney Debates. It is the birthplace of Thomas Paine and John Stuart Mill, the country of the NHS, the home of the council house. Social rights have been part of Britain’s tradition for centuries and Brexit should not change that.”