The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which the right to decent housing is effective among one of the most vulnerable groups: wastepickers, taking as case of study the city of Fortaleza - CE. The Federal Constitution instituted as fundamental the right to housing that is directly linked with the right to life and, consequently, with the dignity of the human person. Decent housing is much more than the building of a sheltered physical space, it is a construction that is properly integrated with the urban space and public services so that the individuals who live in it can live with dignity. In the interviews with the wastepickers, 43.75% do not have a place to live, live in the street, in a condition of extreme vulnerability, exposed to contamination of diseases and subject to situations of violence. The financial income earned by these workers is insufficient to cover the costs of a housing. In the end, it was found that the wastepickers interviewed are in poor living conditions or do not have a place to live, and they do not participate in existing public policies because they are unable to meet the requirements required by housing programs. There is a need to change the criteria for participation in these programs to reduce or decrease the number of people living on the streets, guaranteeing them a minimum of dignity. The paper was developed through bibliographic, documentary and empirical, quantitative field, research, through the application of 32 questionnaires.