Assessing the Compliance of the United Kingdom’s Social Security System with its Obligations under the European Social Charter

The European Social Charter, a relatively neglected human rights instrument in the UK, academically, judicially and politically, represents a statement of minimum standards in social rights the state has committed to uphold. This article assesses the compliance of the UK’s social security system with the charter following a period of reform that has put in place a less generous, more punitive model of working age provision. It is argued that benefit levels and conditions for their receipt are now of at best questionable conformity with some of the core requirements of article 13 (the right to social assistance) and article 16 (the right to family protection), while the previously identified non-conformity with article 12 (the right to social security) continues. Consideration is given to the potential potency of the Charter as a means of challenging austerity-driven reforms, alone or in combination with other human rights agreements.