"Women's experiences reveal a dimension of the economic downturn that is still unfolding, a dimension that points to the need to strengthen the nation's social programs and policies that help to provide a secure retirement for women, men, and families from all walks of life," the report stated.

When asked how confident they are that they will have enough income and assets to last throughout their retirement, 47 percent of women surveyed said they have little or no confidence in their retirement security, compared with 35 percent of men. Survey respondents were broken down into equal parts white, black and Hispanic individuals. Fifty-two percent of Hispanic women do not feel confident their income and assets will last through their retirement, compared to 47 percent of white women and 42 percent of black women.

The report also found that 38 percent of Hispanic men have a negative view about their retirement, compared to 35 percent of white men and 32 percent of black.

The survey also found that younger people, ages 18 to 44, and those between 45 and 59 are more likely to doubt their ability to retire than those 60 and older.

Women and men with bachelor's degrees have more confidence in their retirement security. Only 39 percent of women and 26 percent of men with bachelor's degrees stated they were not too confident or not at all confident that their assets and income would last through their retirement. This compares to 52 percent of women and 35 percent of men with some college or an associate's degree and 47 percent of women and 43 percent of men with a high school diploma or less.

The IWPR/Rockefeller Survey, which was used as a basis for "Retirement on the Edge," asked all respondents whether they believed their retirement income, including income from Social Security, employer pensions, financial assets in 401(k)s, IRAs and other savings and investments, would be adequate to maintain their current standard of living. They were asked to answer the question based on how they felt before the recession and after.

While more than half of all women and men surveyed felt prior to the recession that their retirement savings were enough to maintain their current standard of living, only 37 percent of women and 44 percent of men hold the same view now. The sharpest decline took place among white women, from 60 percent with a positive view of their retirement savings before the recession to 38 percent after the downturn. Only Hispanic men show increased confidence in the adequacy of their retirement savings.

Women interviewed as part of the Rockefeller survey also expressed concern about not being able to afford health care, having to go to a nursing home, Social Security being cut back or eliminated, and not having enough money to live on. Respondents' answers on the 2010 survey were compared with results from the Rockefeller 2007 American Workers Survey, which asked the same question. Both women and men are more likely to worry about each of the challenges mentioned in 2010 than in 2007, suggesting that the recession has intensified people's sense of insecurity about retirement. Among the four challenges identified in the survey, anxiety about not having enough money to live on increased the most dramatically: 58 percent of women and 43 percent of men expressed this concern in 2010, compared with 39 percent of women and 28 percent of men in 2007.

Data for the report was compiled from an IWPR/Rockefeller Survey by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation. The IWPR/Rockefeller Survey interviewed 2,746 respondents between Sept. 15 and Nov. 2, 2010.