P.E.I.'s social assistance rates are not meeting basic needs and the government needs to index payments with the cost of living, says a group studying how women manage on low incomes.

'There's still one to two to three days that you go without.'— Natalie Knockwood

Until June of this year, social assistance payments on P.E.I. were unchanged for 10 years.

In June, the food rate went up by 10 per cent. The shelter rate increased by five per cent.

The Women's Network of P.E.I., which conducted the study, said women cannot get by on occasional raises every decade.

"You think about your own budget and think about what you were making 10 years ago and what your costs are today," network chair Sara Roach-Lewis told CBC News.

Roach-Lewis said the social assistance rates should be indexed with the cost of living.

The Women's Network study gathered the stories of 20 P.E.I. women who shared how they go about making ends meet from month to month.

Natalie Knockwood was one of those women. She also shared her story at a recent workshop in Charlottetown, describing how she and her four- and 12-year-old children get by. The recent increase in payments was good news she said, but still not enough.

"There's still one to two to three days that you go without, or you're very slim, bread and butter sandwiches," said Knockwood.

Another woman described how she would have to skip eating to save for a haircut.

Roach-Lewis noted the National Child Benefit is indexed to the consumer price index, and said the province should do the same for provincial social assistance.

A spokesperson from the Department of Social Services was tied up with meetings Wednesday and unable to respond to this story.