Right to an Adequate Standard of Living
A complex right encompassing fundamental needs
Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”) provides that “[e]veryone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family”. Essentially the same language appears in Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“ICESCR”) (“The States Parties to the Present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family”). UDHR Article 25(2) noted that motherhood and childhood, including children born outside of wedlock, were entitled to special care and assistance, and Article 27(1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires that States “recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development”.
Article 28(1) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities specifies that States must “recognize the right of persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families”. While other international human rights instruments do not explicitly mention a right to an “adequate standard of living”, they do include obligations on States to provide covered groups with access to the items and services necessary for achieving the aspirational level of wellbeing.[1]
The factors that are generally relevant to enjoyment of an adequate standard of living can be found in several international human rights instruments beginning with Article 25(1) of the UDHR and its reference to “food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”. Article 11(1) of the ICESCR mentions “adequate food, clothing and housing” and “the continuous improvement of living conditions”, and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“CESCR”) has explained that the list in Article 11 is not intended to be exhaustive and can be extended to include a right to water since access to safe drinking water is essential to enjoying an adequate standard of living.[2] The Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons, which was approved in 2015 and entered into force on January 11, 2017, specifies protected rights for older persons relating to work, health, education and housing.[3]
With special regard to older persons[4], the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (“OHCHR”) has argued that the concept of “adequate standard of living” must take into account the unique circumstances of particular sub-populations, such as older persons, which means, for example, that when identifying and imagining “necessary social services” for older persons, consideration must be given to their specific needs.[5] In 1991, the UN General Assembly adopted the UN Principles for Older Persons (“UNPOP”), which included entitlements for older persons relating to basic provisions of food, water, shelter, clothing and health care, as well as the right to work and having access to education and training in order to achieve and maintain “independence”.[6]
The Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing (“Vienna Plan”) adopted at the first World Assembly on Aging held in 1982 called for specific actions on issues such as health and nutrition, protecting elderly consumers, housing and environment, family, social welfare, income security and employment, education, and the collection and analysis of research data.[7] The Political Declaration and Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging, generally referred to as the “Madrid Plan”, adopted at the second World Assembly on Aging held in Madrid in 2002, called for programs relating to education, training and vocational guidance, eradication of poverty and social protection/social security and equal access to food, shelter, medical care and other services.[8]
Elements of an adequate standard of living for older persons can also be found in the policy framework for “active ageing” adopted by the World Health Organization (“WHO”) in 2002, which required optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age.[9] Improving the overall health and wellbeing of older persons and ensuring that they are welcomed participants in society are obviously essential to active aging, but the reality is that older persons also need special attention to social, financial and physical security as they age so that they are able to enjoy protection, safety and dignity when the day comes that they are no longer able to support and protect themselves on their own and become more dependent on their families and communities.[10] With respect to addressing the security rights and needs of older persons as they age, WHO called for[11]:
· Supporting the provision of a social safety net for older people who are poor and alone, as well as social security initiatives that provide a steady and adequate stream of income during old age, and encouraging young adults to prepare for old age in their health, social and financial practices
· Protecting consumers from unsafe medications and treatments, and unscrupulous marketing practices, particularly in older age
· Following the principles of social justice by ensuring that decisions being made concerning care in older age are guided by the UN Principles for Older Persons and based on the rights of older people to maintain independence and autonomy for the longest period possible
· Explicitly recognizing older people’s right to and need for secure, appropriate shelter, especially in times of conflict and crisis, and providing housing assistance for older people and their families when required (paying special attention to the circumstances of those who live alone) through rent subsidies, cooperative housing initiatives, support for housing renovations, etc.
· Upholding the rights of older people during conflicts and other crises by specifically recognizing and act on the need to protect older people in emergency situations (e.g., by providing transportation to relief centers to those who cannot walk there) and recognizing the contribution that older people can make to recovery efforts in the aftermath of an emergency and include them in recovery initiatives
· Recognizing elder abuse (physical, sexual, psychological, financial and neglect) and encouraging the prosecution of offenders; training law enforcement officers, health and social service providers, spiritual leaders, advocacy organizations and groups of older people to recognize and deal with elder abuse; increasing awareness of the injustice of elder abuse through public information and awareness campaigns; and involving the media and young people, as well as older people in these efforts
WHO was particularly concerned about the need to reduce inequities in the security rights and needs of older women, calling for enacting legislation and enforcing laws relating to the protection of widows from the theft of property and possessions and from harmful practices such as health-threatening burial rituals and charges of witchcraft; enacting legislation and enforcing laws that protect women from domestic and other forms of violence as they age; and providing social security (income support) for older women who have no pensions or meager retirement incomes because they have worked all or most of their lives in the home or informal sector.[12]
Notes
[1] See, e.g., Article 43 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (mentioning access to education, vocational guidance and training, housing and social and health services) and Article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (mentioning access for rural women to adequate health care facilities; social security programs; training and education; and adequate living conditions relating to housing, sanitation, electricity, water supply, transport and communications).
[2] Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, CESCR General Comment No. 15: The right to water (2002).
[3] https://www.oas.org/es/CIDH/R/template.asp?File=/en/iachr/r/pm/bdocuments.asp.
[4] The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“CESCR”) noted that the terminology used to describe older persons varies considerably, even in international documents and includes: "older persons", "the aged", "the elderly", "the third age", "the ageing" and, to denote persons more than 80 years of age, "the fourth age". The CESCR opted for the use of "older persons", the term employed in General Assembly resolutions 47/5 and 48/98, and this work generally follows that descriptive convention. UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: The Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights of Older Persons: General Comment 6, UN Doc. E/C.12/1995/16/Rev. 1 (August 12, 1995), Paragraph 9. The use of the descriptive term “older persons” in this work also reflects the findings of surveys of persons over a certain age that they find terms such as “elderly,” “aged,” and “old,” to be disrespectful and supportive of an inaccurate stereotype of frailty. See M. Falconer and D. O’Neill, “Out with “the old,” elderly, and aged”, BMJ, 334 (7588) (February 10, 2007), 316. For further discussion of the debate surrounding the use of terms based on chronological age, see A. Gutterman, Ageism: Where It Comes From and What It Does (Oakland CA: Older Persons’ Rights Project, 2022).
[5] Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Human Rights Situation of Older Persons (E/2012/51), Paragraph 30.
[6] See D. Rodríguez-Pinzón and C. Martin. "The International Human Rights Status of Elderly Persons", American University International Law Review, 18 (4) (2003), 915, 948. The UNPOP can be found in UN Doc. A/RES/46/91 (1991). Principle 1 of the UNPOP provides that: “Older persons should have access to adequate food, water, shelter, clothing and health care through the provision of income, family and community support and self-help”. See also UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: The Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights of Older Persons: General Comment 6, UN Doc. E/C.12/1995/16/Rev. 1 (August 12, 1995), Paragraph 32.
[7] Report of the World Assembly on Aging, Vienna, 26 July-6 August 1982, UN Sales No. E.82.1.16 (1982).
[8] See Report of the Second World Assembly on Ageing, 1-43, UN Doc. A/CONF.1979, UN Sales No. E.02.IV.4 (2002).
[9] Active Ageing: A Policy Framework (Geneva: World Health Organization, 2002), 12 (citing A. Kalachea and I. Kickbusch, “A global strategy for healthy ageing”, World Health, 4 (July-August 1997), 4-5). For further discussion of the WHO’s policy framework for “active aging”, and the active aging movement generally, see A. Gutterman, Anti-Ageism Movement (Oakland CA: Ageism Project, 2021).
[10] Id. at 46 (noting also that the goal of WHO’s recommendations in this area is to ensure that those families and communities receive the support that they need to care for their older members).
[11] Id. at 52-53.
[12] Id. at 53.