Social rights and social sustainability: can social law promote intergenerational justice?

Abstract

The notion of intergenerational justice is embedded in the concept of sustainable development. If one focuses on the social dimension of sustainability - as it is done in this chapter - intergenerational justice refers to the present generations’ responsibility for ensuring that the needs and life chances of future generations are not jeopardized. This chapter asks to what extent how national social law can promote intergenerational social justice, on the one hand, and what are the limitations of social law in this regard, on the other. It is claimed that social law is apt for promoting the material needs and capabilities of children (as future generations). Furthermore, retrenchment of social security expenditure can also work for the benefit of yet unborn future generations although the right to social minimum of the present generations cannot be violated. In regard to the limitations of social law, national social law can do little for intergenerational justice on a global level.