Economic, social and cultural rights in Great Britain: 2025 submission to United Nations

Published: 5 February 2025

Last updated: 5 February 2025

What countries does this apply to?

  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales

About our report

This report to the United Nations (UN) looks at the state of economic, social and cultural rights in Great Britain. It forms part of our work on monitoring the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). For further information on the ICESCR, visit our Human Rights Tracker.

This report primarily covers England and Wales, as well as those areas in Scotland which are reserved to the UK Parliament. Our recommendations are aimed at the UK and Welsh governments, in line with our statutory mandate.

It provides up-to-date evidence on a range of ICESCR rights, for the UN to consider ahead of its examination of the UK in February 2025. It considers evidence and developments since the last time the UK was reviewed under ICESCR in 2016.

It should be read in parallel with our previous submission in 2022 to inform the UN’s List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPR).

This report has a particular focus on ICESCR rights in the following areas:

  • work and just and fair conditions at work
  • family life
  • social security
  • adequate housing
  • adequate food
  • the highest attainable standard of health
  • education

Summary of findings

Living standards

Living standards in the UK have changed since 2016. Although the proportion of people in poverty overall is slowly declining, this is not the case for all groups. In 2019/20, pension poverty reached its highest levels since 2006/07, and child poverty reached its highest level since 2007/08. A greater proportion of disabled people continue to be in poverty compared to non-disabled people. Notably, the majority of adults in poverty live in working families. In recent years, food insecurity also rose in England and Wales, and is more prevalent among certain households, such as those with a disabled member or with children. In 2024, the Welsh Government published a new child poverty strategy and accompanying measurement framework, and the UK government launched a ministerial taskforce to develop a child poverty strategy.

While fewer households in England report living in non-decent housing conditions, and fewer households report overcrowding in England and Wales, certain households are more likely to experience issues such as overcrowding. These include households with one or more disabled person, Muslim households and households headed by people of certain ethnic groups. An increasing number of households requiring adaptations for people with long-standing health conditions or impairments are also not having them done. Although some steps have been taken to reduce homelessness, homelessness has not decreased in England and Wales since 2016.

Social security

As of July 2024, 6.4 million people in England and Wales received Universal Credit – the main means-tested benefit for working-age adults. Despite the context outlined above, estimates suggest that just over 1.4 million people who might be eligible for Universal Credit are not claiming it. Evidence points to several challenges with benefit uptake, including issues with moving people over to new types of benefits, lack of awareness around eligibility and complexity of the process. There are other notable trends and changes within the social security system, including the disproportionate impact of certain policies on groups sharing some protected characteristics.

Work

Although employment and occupational pay gaps have gradually narrowed since 2016, they persist for certain protected characteristic groups. Racial and sexual harassment at work continues to be prevalent, notably in the uniformed services. In addition, zero-hours contracts, a form of insecure work with no minimum set contracted hours, are rapidly growing and disproportionately impact some protected characteristic groups. UK and Welsh governments have taken some action to narrow these gaps, address sexual harassment at work and change the approach to zero-hour contracts.

Family life

The provision of childcare has decreased, and costs have risen since 2016. Although governments have implemented programmes and increased spending to solve some of these challenges, analysis indicates that families on low incomes may not receive sufficient support. Data from 2023 on the Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme, introduced in 2015, shows that only 5% of employee fathers and 1% of employee mothers in Great Britain took SPL following the birth or adoption of their child. Barriers to take-up included financial constraints, varying degrees of understanding and workplace culture.

Health

Some of the pressures on the public health systems in England and Wales persist since the COVID-19 pandemic and have worsened since 2016. Waiting lists for treatment in the National Health Service (NHS) for England and Wales have grown, and health inequalities have worsened. The maternal mortality rate in England has increased, is higher for certain ethnic minority groups, and is higher in the most economically deprived areas of England. The UK and Welsh governments have provided increased funding to healthcare, and NHS England and NHS Wales have both released delivery plans for recovering urgent and primary care following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of people accessing secondary mental health services since 2016 has also grown. Waiting time standards for talking therapies have been consistently met since 2016. However, some people face additional waits within services, and some ethnic minority groups in particular experience disparities in accessing talking therapies in England and Wales. In 2023, suicide rates in England and Wales were the highest they have been for men since 1999 and the highest for women since 1994, following several decades of declining rates between 1981 (when records began) and around 2007.

Rates of mental health detention in England have decreased overall since the last review period. However, they have increased for people under 18 since 2015. Since 2015, the number of mental health inpatients with a learning disability has decreased, while the number of inpatients with autism has increased. In Wales, smaller populations mean that trends in detentions under the Mental Health Act are more changeable, and further research is needed. A new bill has been introduced to reform the Mental Health Act that aims to improve control over treatment and access to community-based services.

Education

The educational attainment gap in England between disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils increased since 2016 (our report looks at Key Stage 4). Attainment gaps also persist in England between Special Educational Needs (SEN) students and non-SEN students. However, the attainment gap is narrowing between male and female pupils. There is variance in attainment gaps between pupils from different ethnic groups. In Wales, attainment gaps are wider depending on geographic location and eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM). Attainment gaps for disabled learners also persist in Wales and are wider than in England and Scotland. Attainment varies between pupils from different ethnic groups.

Recommendations

Our report includes recommendations in the following key areas:

  • enhancement of ICESCR rights in domestic law
  • tackling socio-economic disadvantage and using the socio-economic duty
  • improving employment support and workers’ rights
  • improving adequacy and accessibility of the social security system
  • improving adequacy and accessibility of housing, and reducing homelessness
  • improving access to quality health services, including mental health support

Document downloads

Page updates

Related pages on this site