A/HRC/28/59/Add.1 above average; men continued to face a slightly higher unemployment risk (4.3 per cent) than women (3.9 per cent).28 B. Right to social security, and combating poverty and social exclusion 51. The number of people depending on municipal financial aid — last-resort support — has nearly doubled, from 4,280 households in 2007 to over 8,000 households in 2013. About 4 per cent of the entire population and 6.5 per cent of all households depend on such income support, with single men without children and single women with children being most dependent on municipal financial assistance, and 45 per cent of recipients being unemployed.29 52. As of 1 of January 2014, the duration of unemployment benefits was reduced to two and a half years and it is expected that many long-term unemployed will have to rely on the minimum social security net offered by municipalities, which are not very well prepared, either administratively or financially, to support the increasing number of people seeking assistance. Municipalities apply different eligibility criteria, so that applicants enjoy different levels of benefits depending on their place of residence, and the differences cannot always be justified by disparities in local living costs. The last-resort social security benefit, aimed at covering the minimum costs for decent living, varies by more than 30 per cent, depending on the municipality. The amount for a single person is between ISK 129,240 (in Akranes) and ISK 169,199 (in Reykjavik).30 A harmonized, equal and non-discriminatory treatment of all applicants, in conformity with article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, appears to be lacking. 53. Although the Debtors’ Ombudsman has developed a reference budget for the purpose of debt mitigation, Iceland has not yet specified the core minimum budget that individuals and families should have in order to enjoy the essential economic and social rights and to be able to participate in public life, and which reflects actual living costs. 54. Welfare, labour market and taxation policies contributed to keeping the percentage of persons at risk of poverty and social exclusion, as defined by the European Union, below 14 per cent in the aftermath of the crisis. The 2013 European Union survey on income and living conditions shows, however, that particular groups are at risk.31 For example, children (16.6 per cent); foreign citizens (19.0 per cent), unemployed persons (23.2 per cent) and tenants living in accommodation rented at market rates (30.7 per cent) or at reduced rates (33.0 per cent) are at a much higher poverty risk, while homeowners, including those paying mortgages (7.1 per cent) or who have already repaid their loans in full (9.1 per cent) face a below-average risk of poverty or social exclusion (see figure 2 below). Debt relief measures for homeowners appear to have been generally successful in preventing widespread poverty among households paying mortgages. The Independent Expert is, however, particularly concerned about the situation of people who either cannot afford to buy their own accommodation or who have lost their homes owing to the banking crisis. 55. Single-parent households continue to require particular attention as 27.1 per cent of those households live on less than 60 per cent of the median income. While child poverty in Iceland is low by international standards, the at-risk-of-poverty rates among children whose 28 29 30 31 Statistics Iceland, Labour Market Statistics, 4th quarter 2014, 29 January 2015; data on the unemployment of immigrants were provided by the Directorate of Labour. Statistics Iceland, Municipal social services 2013, 9 October 2014. Hanna R. Björnsdóttir and others, EAPN Iceland, European Minimum Income Network country report Iceland (September 2014), p. 6. European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), data available from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/income-and-living-conditions/data/database 17