households that rent and are experiencing poverty are experiencing housing stress, where over 30% of the household budget is spent on housing costs. Those households particularly at risk of poverty therefore face heightened risk of not fully enjoying their right to adequate housing, despite the fact that all core human rights treaties protect the right to housing for vulnerable and marginalised groups.31 Those whose security of tenure is weaker, such as renters versus homeowners, have a higher rate of working households living in poverty. Further, poverty in working households exacerbates housing insecurity, as working households in poverty who are renting spend, on average, a significantly larger proportion of their income on housing compared with working households not in poverty. Poverty in working households also reduces the chance of improving housing security, as home ownership rates are substantially lower for the working households in poverty. We also know that there are significant barriers that disabled people face trying to access affordable and appropriate housing, and that this may be exacerbated by the fact that there is a higher prevalence of poverty amongst working households containing a disabled person. A few further hypothesis can be made from these correlations and the state of housing in Aotearoa New Zealand.32 Firstly, poverty in working households can lead to a greater risk of housing stress in older people. Those without security of tenure during their working lives are more likely to be exposed to housing stress in their post-working lives. Further, those households experiencing poverty are more likely to feel the effects of housing transience, which has flow on effects on work, education and social connections. Renting in Aotearoa New Zealand and the culture of short and fixed term tenancies makes people more exposed to rent increases and unaffordability. Also, as the quality of rental housing stock in Aotearoa New Zealand is still on average sub-standard, those households experiencing poverty are also more likely to live in damp and poorly heated or poorly insulated homes, which can affect children’s health and education. The fact that poverty is more prevalent in working households with multiple families, families with children and single-parent families, mean that targeted measures need to be taken to ensure their right to housing is fulfilled. 14 Human Rights Responses to Poverty in Working Households CESCR observed these links, expressing concern that disadvantaged groups and individuals, notably Māori and Pasific families and disabled people, are more likely to experience severe housing deprivation, including overcrowded conditions.33 The Committee was also concerned by the considerable number of unsafe rental housing units and the shortage of social and affordable housing. It noted housing costs have significantly increased, leading to housing becoming unaffordable for many families and thereby increasing homelessness. This potential link between poverty in working households and homelessness is a topic for further work. The right to health The right to health34 includes access to healthcare as well as the underlying social and economic determinants of health, such as conditions of work and adequate food and shelter.35 The right to health is dependent on and contributes to the realisation of many other human rights, such as the rights to food, to an adequate standard of living, to privacy and access to information.36 Aspects of the right to health that are of particular importance to those households experiencing poverty include the right to a system of health protection; the right to prevention, treatment and control of diseases; the right to healthy natural and workplace environments; and the right to health facilities, goods and services.37 We see some evidence of the links between the right to health and poverty in working households in the NZWRI Research, in the data that shows that health difficulties are associated with higher rates of in-work poverty. Further work needs to be done on identifying the best ways to address the needs of those with physical, learning and cognitive, and socialising and communicating difficulties, to ensure they can avoid a higher risk of poverty. Likewise, while we can hypothesise about how poverty in working households reduces the likelihood of fully accessing the right to health through reduced economic capacity to purchase healthcare goods and services, the degree to which poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand reduces people’s capacity to enjoy the right to health warrants further investigation.