Article 7 of the ICESCR protects the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work, in particular the right to safe working conditions. These requirements are further elaborated in CESCR’s General Comment 23. Article 8 further provides for the right to join a trade union, the freedom of assembly, and right to strike. Legal protections regarding the right to work, including against discrimination, are also included in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD, Article 5), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, article 11), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, article 32), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, article 27), the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW, articles 11, 25, 26, 40, 52 and 54), and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP, Articles 17 and 21). The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work also commits governments to promoting these rights, along with a number of ILO conventions, including ILO Convention No. 122 concerning Employment Policy (1964).11 According to CESCR’s General Comment 18, the right to decent work necessitates: - availability which requires governments to support and assist people to find employment; - accessibility for all without discrimination, physically including for disabled people, and via accessible means; and - acceptability and quality including safe work with fair working conditions. Why is the right to decent work relevant to poverty in working households? Understanding the legal framework as set out above, and applying this to the data and findings of the NZWRI Research, we can see there are three main aspects of interconnectedness between the right to decent work and poverty in working households: 10 Human Rights Responses to Poverty in Working Households 1. Reduced access to the right to decent work and fair working conditions are associated with a higher prevalence of poverty in working households: lack of work (unemployment), reduced hours (underemployment), insecure work (temporary contracts), low pay, precarious working conditions, limited education levels, discriminatory access to the labour market (affecting women, older people, disabled people, migrants, ethnic minorities, Māori and Pacific people), and lower union membership rates are all factors associated with increased prevalence of poverty in working households. 2. Poverty in working households reduces the likelihood of realising the right to decent work and fair working conditions: those experiencing poverty in working households are less able to access or improve their enjoyment of the right to decent work or fair working conditions due to their disproportionate exposure to the barriers outlined above. 3. Increasing the level of enjoyment of the right to decent work can reduce poverty in working households: enhancing access to the right to decent work can help alleviate the experience of poverty in working households. As the ILO reminds us, ‘evidence shows that decent and productive jobs, sustainable enterprises and economic transformation play a key role in reducing poverty’.12 Breaking the cycle of poverty involves full employment and decent work.13 Implementation of the right to decent work and the labour rights provided for by international human rights law facilitates empowerment and participation, provides the legal standards to protect against discrimination, and necessitates the establishment of accountability mechanisms. Decent work ‘promot[es] organization and voice, enabling people living in poverty to mobilize and become active agents in shaping their future.’14