Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook

Appendix B

The Economic Bill of Rights

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made. In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all – regardless of station, race, or creed. Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job…;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation…;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

President Franklin Roosevelt introducing an Economic Bill of Rights, State of the Union Message to Congress, 1944.

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