Economic and Social Rights
Why the right to food, housing, health, and education are just as fundamental as civil liberties, and why they remain so contested.
The Other Half of Rights
When people think of human rights, they usually picture free speech, fair trials, and freedom from torture. These are civil and political rights, enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). But there is an equally important category: economic, social, and cultural rights (ESC rights), codified in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which entered into force in 1976.
ESC rights include the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to health, the right to education, the right to work under fair conditions, and the right to social security. The UDHR treated both categories as inseparable. Article 25 declares that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care. The drafters understood that political freedom means little to someone who is starving.
