A new report documents the impact of the recent cost-of-living crisis and over a decade of austerity measures on the lives and rights of York residents.
The report, by the York Human Rights City Network (YHRCN) led by the University of York and York Centre for Voluntary Service, offers a detailed snapshot of the current state of human rights across the city and highlights both areas of concern and instances of positive progress.
The ninth report to be realised in the Network's series of annual human rights indicator reports, the research reveals key trends, including the continuing prevalence of food bank use in the City, with the York Foodbank issuing more than 2,800 food vouchers in 2024. This figure represents only a partial picture of food insecurity in York as other food banks operate independently.
Healthy life expectancy
The report highlights a decrease in healthy life expectancy for both men and women in York: Healthy life expectancy for men has fallen from 63.61 years to 62.01 years and healthy life expectancy for women has decreased from 64.08 years to 62.68 years.
The report's data also indicates that the gap in the percentage of disadvantaged students reaching expected educational levels at the end of primary school compared to their peers increased from 26 percentage points to 28.9 percentage points in 2024.
Protecting human rights
However, the report also identifies areas where York has seen success in protecting human rights. Notably, the city demonstrates comparatively low levels of homelessness and the percentage of children living in poverty has fallen from 19.3% to 17.9%.
The YHRCN report monitors a series of socio-economic indicators, all linked to five priority rights chosen by York's residents: the right to equality and non-discrimination, the right to education, the right to health and social care, the right to housing, and the right to a decent standard of living.
Local organisations
To provide a richer understanding of the issues, the report includes several case studies from local organisations working to protect human rights in the City. These include insights into hate crime reporting (York Disability Rights Forum), supporting refugee children in education (Refugee Action York), social prescribing (York Centre for Voluntary Service), innovative housing solutions (Yorspace), and the impact of proposed changes to the Workplace Capabilities Assessment (Citizens Advice York).
Based on its findings, the report puts forward several recommendations for improving rights protection in York. These include suggestions for:
- The city's Human Rights and Equalities Board (HREB) to advocate for research into the gender pay gap - which was found to have increased from 20.2% to 22.6% – and encourage the publication of data on other pay inequalities.
- The Council to publish data on the duration of temporary accommodation stays on the York Open Data website.
- HREB and YHRCN to collaborate on assessing residents' understanding of human rights.
- HREB to facilitate discussions among city organisations on how human rights-informed approaches can address the disparity in healthy life expectancy.
Real snapshot
Lead author of the report, Fionn Toland, from the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York said: "This report offers a real snapshot of York as it is, highlighting the challenges we face and celebrating the positive work being done across the city to improve the lives of residents.
"Our report aims to provide critical insights to allow organisations across the city to continue to work together on focused interventions that effectively tackle inequality."
Fostering collaboration
Network member Stephen Pittam said: "Our civil society network, which publishes the report, is working constructively with the City of York Council on taking forward the recommendations of the report, and on building stronger links with other statutory services through the Human Rights and Equalities Board. This report exemplifies the valuable role the University plays in supporting civil society and fostering collaboration within our city."
The YHRCN remains committed to its role as a non-party political civil society coalition, working to promote and protect human rights in York through evidence-based reporting and constructive engagement.
