'It's a total embarrassment. A country as rich as ours, and there are people not able to meet their needs,' says Charlotte Hrenchuk, co-ordinator of the Yukon Status of Women Council.

The council held its annual general meeting Thursday night, but spent much of the event discussing women and poverty.

'If you're living paycheque to paycheque, you're one step away from poverty,' said Hrenchuk.

According to a new study conducted by the council, the average cost for a single mother to raise one child in the Yukon is approximately $1,635.82 per month. The estimate includes the cost of food, rent, transportation, electricity, heating, local telephone service and laundry.

However, the council's research also found several woman working a full-time, minimum-wage job is only bringing in about $1,086.60 a month after taxes.

Women are not starting on a level playing field, said Hrenchuk. With the expected higher heating costs this winter, mothers and their children are going to have a harder time making ends meet.

'Most women who live in poverty don't want to be visible. They don't want that label or the stigma,' said Linda Hilton, a council member.

'People don't know what it's like and often times we think we do,' she said.

Hrenchuk stressed that one of the best ways to end child poverty is to focus on ending women's poverty first.

The council's mandate is to achieve legislative change in order to eliminate discrimination against Yukon women, to foster public knowledge of the rights and status of women and to facilitate communication between individuals and groups.

Over the course of the 2004/05 year, the council has been striving to meet its mandate and to address women's poverty through involvement in the Yukon Council on the Economy and the Environment, the National Working Group on Women and Housing, the Domestic Violent Treatment Options steering committee, the Human Rights Education Group and the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

One of the key goals of the council is to not only support women in the territory, but to also elicit change at a national level, said Hrenchuk.

When working on projects within the Yukon, the council often tries to look at policies and issues through a feminist lens, added Hrenchuk. That's done to determine how legislation will work in the Yukon and what kind of effect it will have on women.

Over the next year, the council hopes to do a follow-up study on women and homelessness and look at how to get the housing options in the Yukon to be more user-friendly to poor women and single mothers.

The council also plans to get involved in the Nov. 21 Copperbelt byelection and general election.

Hrenchuk said it's important to do some type of electioneering to ensure that women are aware of issues and how they will affect them, as well as where the various parties stand on women's issues.

A major concern of the council is always fundraising. The council is 'chronically underfunded,' said Hrenchuk.

The council's financial statements show the group ended with a $8,995-surplus last March 31.

However, the organization had $60,499 in expenditures over the year, which included administration, advertising and various reports, travel and equipment.

The expenditures and revenue did better than they did in 2004 due to a $43,942-cash infusion from Health Canada and a $5,000-cash transfer from the former feminist and women's issues newspaper, the Optimist.