In September 2024 we published a call for evidence to inform our follow up report to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The evidence we received on the state of everyday rights in the UK from diverse communities and organisations highlighted the barriers people face in accessing basic necessities such as healthcare, adequate food and housing, decent work, and social security.

While the challenges vary across groups, the common thread is persistent and enduring inequality, and that those at the sharpest end of rights violations continue to be impacted the most.

In this blog we lay out some issues that emerge from the evidence:

Right to food and health

• Food banks have become more widespread and food insecurity has continued to rise with 7.2 million people reporting food insecurity in 2022/23 which is an increase from 4.7 million people in 2021/22.
• 91 per cent of people seeking asylum don’t always have enough money to buy food and 75 per cent can’t always afford medicines they need.  
• For some communities, specific factors exacerbate the issue of food insecurity. For instance, Jewish families face higher food costs due to kosher dietary requirements, which can be up to 50 per cent more expensive. This forces many to choose between following religious dietary laws and meeting their nutritional needs, which negatively impacts both physical and mental health.  
• The cost-of-living crisis has deepened health inequalities: there’s a 8-year gap in healthy life expectancy between women living in the richest areas versus those living in the poorest areas, and Black women are four times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth than white women.

Right to housing and social security 

• The shortage of social housing exacerbates this instability, with some London councils offering families homes in North East England, forcing them into unfamiliar areas without support networks. These properties are often of substandard quality, and families must sign long-term agreements without seeing the home. 
• The Renters’ Right Bill, introduced in September 2024, aims to improve security for tenants by removing fixed-term tenancies and extending the notice period for evictions. However, with private rents in London rising by 6.8 per cent over the past year—the highest increase since 2016—this legislation may not sufficiently alleviate financial pressures on renters.  
• Groups such as disabled adults and single-parent households reported greater difficulty affording housing costs, with 46 per cent of renters struggling compared to 34 per cent of mortgage holders. Similarly, there are disparities on the basis of race and ethnicity, with 56 per cent of Asian and 51 per cent of Black British adults facing increased financial strain.  
• People seeking asylum are experiencing dire housing conditions. Many live in overcrowded, substandard accommodation, which worsens mental health.  
• Access to decent, affordable housing is becoming increasingly out of reach for many, particularly in London. An average home in London now costs 11.9 times the typical household income, making it one of the least affordable regions in the country. As a result, low-income households, are forced into the unstable private rental sector, which has become a major driver of homelessness.  
• 48.3 per cent of young people in Birmingham are living in poverty – the highest child poverty rate in the UK. 

Right to work and just and favourable conditions of work 

• Discrimination in employment continues to disproportionately affect marginalised communities. While unemployment rates have dropped overall, Black individuals are still twice as likely to be unemployed compared to their white counterparts. The economic recovery post-pandemic has done little to address the entrenched inequalities faced by Black communities. 
• Similarly, 63 per cent of transgender people reported facing transphobia when seeking employment, with this figure rising to 73 per cent among Black trans people and trans people of colour.  

Right to education 

• 86 per cent of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils responding to a survey reported that the biggest challenge they faced at school was bullying, followed by racism at 73 per cent. 
• While the rate has fallen from 6 times to 4 times the national average, Black children are still disproportionately strip searched in schools 

Although the issues identified above have been broken down by rights, a clear feature of the evidence is also the way in which inequalities are deeply intertwined, with groups at the sharpest end of rights violations often experiencing violations of multiple rights and being forced to make tough choices between basic necessities. 

Next steps 

Across all submissions, one clear theme emerges: the current system is failing specific groups– particularly those with protected characteristics; deepening inequality and depriving people of their everyday rights.  

The evidence points to the need for policy reforms that target the structural inequalities that perpetuate poverty and exclusion, ensuring that everyone—regardless of background—has access to their everyday rights. 

Over the coming months, we will be reviewing this evidence in detail and compiling a report for the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as part of its review of the UK. Then we’ll be in Geneva in February 2025 to bring this message directly to the United Nations.

Take action

• Read the evidence submissions in detail here.
• Read our previous report to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights here. 

By Neha Anvar, Research and Policy Intern