There is a clear overlap between the public objectives of guaranteeing socio-economic human rights for all, and arranging adequate access to essential public services across society. This edited volume brings together the two topics for the first time in order to explore how socio-economic rights law can be harnessed to reinforce better services access, and how human rights can be strengthened to play an important role in assessing socio-economic legal and policy decisions. The volume identifies common challenges for providing the various essential services and also examines how socio-economic rights or guideposts can be harnessed to improve their provision.