Moreover, the welfare system suffered from poor administration and unequal standards and provisions across social funds. Even the traditionally resilient heads of households category (proxied by prime-age males of 25-54 years old) was hit hard, with the unemployment rate climbing from 6% per cent in early 2009 to over 20% in 2013 (second quarter). Until the onset of the crisis, labour market institutions (such as firing and hiring rules) protected primary earners, often at the expense of workers with a more marginal attachment to the labour market, such as women and young people (Matsaganis, 2012).