Social, economic and cultural rights - second generation rights

These rights concern how people live and work together and the basic necessities of life. They are based on the ideas of equality and guaranteed access to essential social and economic goods, services, and opportunities. They became increasingly a subject of international recognition with the effects of early industrialisation and the rise of a working class. These led to new demands and new ideas about the meaning of a life of dignity. People realised that human dignity required more than the minimal lack of interference from the state as proposed by the civil and political rights. Social, economic and cultural rights are outlined in the U.N. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR - here) and also in the European Social Charter of the Council of Europe.
  • Social rights are those that are necessary for full participation in the life of society. . They include at least the right to education and the right to found and maintain a family but also many of the rights often regarded as 'civil' rights: for example, the rights to recreation, health care, privacy and freedom from discrimination.
  • Economic rights are normally thought to include the right to work, to an adequate standard of living, to housing and the right to a pension if you are old or disabled. The economic rights reflect the fact that a certain minimal level of material security is necessary for human dignity, and also the fact that, for example, a lack of meaningful employment or housing can be psychologically demeaning...
  • Cultural Rights refer to a community's cultural "way of life" and are often given less attention than many of the other types of rights. They include the right to participate freely in the cultural life of the community and, possibly, also the right to education. However, many other rights, not officially classed as "cultural" will be essential for minority communities within a society to preserve their distinctive culture: for example, the right to non-discrimination and equal protection of the law.
RIGHT TO FOOD
The four key elements of the right to food are:
  • Availability: Food should be obtainable from natural resources, either through the production of food, by cultivating land or animal husbandry, or through other ways like fishing, hunting or gathering. Food should be on sale in markets and shops.
  • Accessibility: Food must be affordable. Individuals should be able to have an adequate diet without compromising on other basic needs, such as school fees, medicines or rent. Food should be accessible to the physically vulnerable, including children, sick people, people with disabilities and the elderly. Food must also be available to people in remote areas, to victims of armed conflicts or natural disasters, and to prisoners.
  • Adequacy: Food must satisfy dietary needs, taking into account a person’s age, living conditions, health, occupation, sex, etc. Food should be safe for human consumption and free from adverse substances.
  • Sustainability: Food should be accessible for both present and future generations.
The human right to adequate food is crucial to the enjoyment of all rights, including:
  • The right to health: When a pregnant woman is denied access to nutritious food, for example, she and her baby can be malnourished, even if she receives prenatal care.
  • The right to life: When people are not able to feed themselves and face malnutrition and resulting illnesses or death by starvation, their right to life is at stake.
  • The right to water: Without safe water for drinking, food preparation, and household hygiene, the right to food is out of reach.
  • The right to adequate housing: When a house lacks basic amenities, such as for cooking or storing food, the right to adequate food of its residents may be undermined. Also, when the cost of housing is too high, people may have less money to spend on food.
  • The right to education: Hunger and malnutrition impair children’s learning abilities, and may force them to drop out of school, thus undermining their enjoyment of the right to education. People need to know how to maintain a healthy diet and have the skills and capacity to produce or obtain food.
See also 
The right to ADEQUATE HOUSING is a human right recognized in international human rights law as part of the right to an adequate standard of living, along with the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity. 
Despite the central place of this right within the global legal system, well over a billion people are not adequately housed. Millions around the world live in life- or health- threatening conditions, in overcrowded slums and informal settlements, or in other conditions which do not uphold their human rights and their dignity. 
Key aspects of the right to adequate housingThe right to adequate housing contains the following key elements:
  • Legal security of tenure: Regardless of the type of tenure, all persons should possess a degree of security of tenure which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats.
  • Affordability: Personal or household financial costs associated with housing should not threaten or compromise the attainment and satisfaction of other basic needs (for example, food, education, access to health care).
  • Habitability: Adequate housing should provide for elements such as adequate space, protection from cold, damp, heat, rain, wind or other threats to health, structural hazards, and disease vectors.
  • Availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure: Housing is not adequate if its occupants do not have safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, energy for cooking, heating and lighting, sanitation and washing facilities, means of food storage, refuse disposal, etc.
  • Accessibility: Housing is not adequate if the specific needs of disadvantaged and marginalized groups are not taken into account (such as the poor, people facing discrimination; persons with disabilities, victims of natural disasters).
  • Location: Adequate housing must allow access to employment options, health-care services, schools, child-care centres and other social facilities and should not be built on polluted sites nor in immediate proximity to pollution sources.
  • Cultural adequacy: Adequate housing should respect and take into account the expression of cultural identity and ways of life.
See also: 
THE RIGHTS TO WATER AND SANITATION​ is a fundamental human right to which all people are entitled without discrimination.Key aspects of human rights to water and sanitation
  • Access to safe, affordable and reliable drinking water and sanitation services are basic human rights. They are indispensable to sustaining healthy livelihoods and maintaining people’s dignity.
  • Human rights to water and sanitation are essential for eradicating poverty, building peaceful and prosperous societies, and ensuring that ‘no one is left behind’ on the road towards sustainable development.
International human rights law obliges States to work towards achieving universal access to water and sanitation for all, without any discrimination, while prioritizing those most in need.
 The key elements of the rights to water and sanitation are:
  •  availability;
  • accessibility;
  • affordability;
  • quality and safety; and
  • acceptability.
See:

RIGHT TO HEALTH
Everyone has the right to affordable, good-quality healthcare.
Right to health is an inclusive right. It extends not only to timely and appropriate health care but also to the underlying determinants of health, such as:
  • access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation;
  • an adequate supply of safe food, nutrition and housing;
  • healthy occupational and environmental conditions; and
  • access to health-related education and information.
Key aspects of the right to healthThe right to health has a number of essential elements:
  • Availability
  • Accessibility
  • Acceptability
  • Quality
  • Participation
  • Accountability
The right to health also contains certain freedoms and entitlements. See examples and learn more about the key aspects and common misconceptions of the right to health.

The right to physical and mental health is closely related to realisation of other human rights, like: 
Protecting the right to health means upholding other human rights such as:
  • The right to social security: A comprehensive social protection system helps to address the multiple dimensions of deprivation and hardship often linked to poor health, and ensures an adequate standard of living through illness.
  • The right to food: A healthy diet helps to build resilience, while poor or inadequate nutrition has significant negative health effects.
  • The right to education: Access to accurate information and health education allows us to make healthy choices about how we eat, how we protect ourselves from poor health and how we choose health care and services.
This calls for a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach to setting effective health policies that leave no one behind.
More:
LABOUR RIGHTS
1. Equal treatment between women and men
Men and women must be treated in the same fair way in every part of life. This includes being treated in the same fair way:
  • when you are looking for work
  • when you are in work
  • when getting paid for the work you do.

2. Help to get a job
Everyone has the right to be supported to get work or set up their own business.

3. Work that is flexible and lasts for a long time
All workers have the right to:
  • fair and equal treatment at work;
  • get support and training;
  • feel safe and secure in their job.
  • annual paid leave - While the European Working Time Directive entitles workers to 4 weeks' annual paid leave, many countries have opted for a more generous right to the benefit of workers.

4.. All workers have the right to fair pay, for a decent standard of living.

5. Clear information about your job
All workers have the right to clear information about their work.
Workers also have the right to clear information about the reasons why they lost their job

6. Listening to workers
All workers have the right to speak up about decisions that affect them at work.

7. Work-life balance - see Directive on life - work balance for working parents and carers 
All workers who are parents or carers have the right to take time off work to help the people they look after.
  • paternity leave: Fathers/equivalent second parents will be able to take at least 10 working days of paternity leave around the time of birth of the child, compensated at least at the level of sick pay.
  • 4 months of parental leave, with 2 out of the 4 months non-transferable from a parent to another, and compensated at a level to be set by Member States. Parents will also have the right to request to take the leave in a flexible way (e.g. part-time or in a piecemeal way).
  • carers' leave for workers providing personal care or support to a relative or person living in the same household. Working carers will be able to take 5 days per year.
  • the right to request flexible working arrangements (reduced working hours, flexible working hours and flexibility in place of work) to all working parents of children up to at least 8 years old, and all carers.

8. Health and safety
All workers have the right to be protected at work.
Workplaces should be safe and healthy for everyone.
Personal information must stay private.

9. Unemployment benefits
Everyone without a job has a right to unemployment benefits. 
This is money to help you afford the basic things you need to live. 

10. Non-discrimination
Protection against discrimination based on sex, race, religion, age, disability and sexual orientation

SOCIAL PROTECTION
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1. Childcare and support to children
All children have the right to get good care and education.
All children have the right  to protection from poverty.

2. Right to pension
Women and men have equal rights to a pension. 
A pension is money for you to live on when you retire.

3. Protection from being very poor
Everyone has the right to the basic things they need to live. 

4. People who don’t have enough money
People who cannot afford basic services have the right to extra help from the government. 

5. People with disabilities
People with disabilities have the right to support to:
  • live with dignity;
  • take part in the world around them. 
​7. Long-term care
Everyone has the right to affordable long-term care.
That is care for people who have a health condition or serious disability.

8. Housing
Everyone has the right to a good-quality, affordable place to live. 

9. Basic services
Everyone has the right to basic services. 
Basic services include getting access to things like water, electricity, banking and internet.

The RIGHT to EDUCATION
Education, training and life-long learning
Everyone has the right to good education and training throughout their whole life.

EQUALITY 
 Equal opportunities
Equal opportunities means that everyone has the same fair chance to take part in the world around them.
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Undeclared work 
Undeclared work may come in different forms
  • The most common type is work carried out in a formal undertaking, partially or fully undeclared. Partially undeclared work is sometimes also called "under-declared work", "envelope wages" or "cash-in-hand";
  • Another type is undeclared "own account" or self-employed work, where self-employed persons provide services either to a formal enterprise or to other clients, such as households;
  • Undeclared work occurs in all kind of economic sectors, both within countries and across borders. It is often carried out in sectors like construction, renovation or repair works, gardening, cleaning, provision of childcare or HORECA (Hotel / Restaurant / Catering – food services).
Undeclared work is everybody's problemUndeclared work is a persisting challenge negatively affecting workers, businesses and governments across Europe.
A new Special Eurobarometer survey carried out in 2019 shows that in the EU:
  • One in ten Europeans say they have purchased in the past year goods or services that might include undeclared work.  Europeans are most likely to have purchased undeclared goods or services for home repairs or renovations.
  • One third of Europeans know someone who works undeclared.
  • Half of Europeans perceive the risk of being detected by authorities as low.

Fighting undeclared workThe main responsibility for tackling undeclared work lies with national authorities. The fight against undeclared work relies mostly on three types of enforcement bodies:
  • Labour inspectorates addressing abusive behaviour regarding working conditions and/or health and safety norms;
  • Social security inspectorates fighting fraud on social insurance contributions;
  • Tax authorities dealing with tax evasion.
Additionally, in some Member States, social partners are also involved in these tasks, as well as customs authorities, migration bodies, the police and the public prosecutor's office.
Within the last ten years, all Member States introduced various measures to step up their efforts in the fight against undeclared work, given its negative consequences. Most of them are in the area of deterrence measures to influence people's behaviour with stricter sanctions or focusing on more effective inspections. In addition, Member States use preventive measures such as
  • tax incentives
  • amnesties
  • awareness raising
to decrease the incidence of undeclared work and facilitate compliance with existing rules.
European PlatformThe European Platform tackling undeclared work enhances cooperation between Member States' relevant authorities and other actors involved to fight undeclared work more effectively and efficiently while fully respecting national competences and procedures.

Obligations of States
​States have a duty to respect, protect and fulfil economic, social and cultural rights.
Their specific obligations may be summarized as follows:
  • Progressive realization: States are required to progressively achieve the full realization of these rights over a period of time. Regardless of resource availability, States have an immediate obligation to take appropriate steps to ensure continuous and sustained improvement in the enjoyment of these rights over time.
  • Core obligations that are of immediate nature:  
    -Minimum essential levels: States are required, with immediate effect, to ensure the enjoyment of minimum essential levels of each right.

    -Prohibition of retrogression: The duty to progressively fulfil economic, social and cultural rights implies a prohibition of measures that would diminish the current enjoyment of rights. For example, States must ensure that their policies and measures do not undermine access to health care or social security benefits.  

    -Prohibition of discrimination: This covers laws, policies and practices which are discriminatory in effect, no matter the intent. Respecting the principle of non-discrimination requires specific measures to ensure the protection of the rights of marginalized populations as a priority. Even when resources are limited, the State has a duty to adopt measures to protect those most at risk. Such measures may include taxation and social transfers to mitigate inequalities that arise or are exacerbated in times of crisis. 

    -To take steps towards the full realization of ESCRs for all.
  • Use of maximum available resources: States have a duty to use their maximum available resources for the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights. Even if a State clearly has inadequate resources at its disposal, it should still introduce low-cost and targeted programmes to assist those most in need so that limited resources are used efficiently and effectively.
Source: https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/economic-social-cultural-rights ​
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