More and more senior women are trying to rebuild their retirement savings

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The number of women over the age of 55 has increased by 4.2% in the past year to 17.4 million, compared with a 1.8% increase in employment for all women and 3 , 3% for men over 55, according to the Department of Labor.

The proportion of working women over 55 also increased more than other groups last year, from 33.5% to an all-time high of 34.3%.

The trend can be explained in part by demographics, says economist Sophia Koropeckyj of Moody's Analytics. There are many baby boomers, about 74 million, and the youngest is 55 this year. Thirty-one per cent of baby boomers have a bachelor's degree, compared to 24 per cent of older generations, allowing baby boomers to work longer in less physically demanding jobs, says Koropeckyj.

Longer life, fallout from recession

Yet there are other factors. Nowadays, "women have a longer life expectancy" and need to fund longer retreats, says Jen Schramm, Strategic Policy Advisor at the AARP Public Policy Institute. Guaranteed income pensions have largely disappeared from the private sector. And tuition fees at public four-year colleges rise on average to $ 10,230 for the current school year, while costs at private colleges total $ 35,830, according to the College Board.

"We are trying to store our resources so we can go to university," said Susan Swanson, 54, of Vernon Hills, Illinois. She pointed out that her daughter had recently started her university studies and that her son would start in about 18 months. In September, Swanson, a former management consultant, began working for about 30 hours a week as an accountant for Eco Promotional Products, an environmentally friendly consumer products company.

She also went back to work because she "was bored," she says, adding that the healthy job market "has made the job easier". At first, however, she worried about the big gap in her resume by asking herself, "Am I too old? Will I find something?"

Meanwhile, the Great Recession has put millions of Americans out of work, reducing their incomes and savings while reducing the investment of many employees in 401 (k). Many fled the stock and thus missed the ten-year bull market.

According to a recent AARP survey, nearly half of those 65 and over who were working or looking for work did so for financial reasons.

Hernandez says her husband, Andrew, saw his 401 (k) investments hammered by the Internet bubble crash in 2000. Their nest egg slumped further during the Great Recession and Andrew stopped contributing to his 401 (k) (k). To cope with the expenses while raising the children on Andrew's salary as an instrument technician, the couple stopped eating out and borrowed a friend's RV for a low-budget camping holiday. Andrew drives a 1995 Honda Civic; Erica, a 2003 Toyota Prius.

Erica Hernandez (Photo: document)

They had little savings for retirement, two children about to enter university and plan to remodel their kitchen. "None of these things would happen unless I go back to work," says Hernandez.

On the favorable job market, it only took him a few months to find a job as a regional administrative assistant for the California Teachers Association. "I was not looking (to go back to public relations and) to climb the corporate ladder," she says. However, to reorient himself daily "was very difficult".

"We had to get used to it," she says. Previously, "I planned lunches of two hours and stayed in my bathrobe until noon."

She says she likes her job, pointing out that she's calling on skills, such as writing and organizing meetings and conferences, which she has developed in the field of public relations. But, she adds, "it was a huge cultural shock." She learned, for example, that photocopiers now digitize documents sent by e-mail.

The couple's finances are more stable and they have recently made a trip to Mexico. "I can buy clothes! I can buy a pair of shoes! "Hernandez said.

Divorce exasperates older workers

Other women are forced to return to work after a divorce because alimony is usually not enough to cover the expenses, says Berger of Work Like a Mother. In 2015, 10 married people over 50 years and over divorced out of 1,000, a rate that has doubled since 1990, according to an analysis of government data by Pew Research. Berger says that nearly half of the mothers she helps to re-enter the workforce are recently divorced.

During the recession, many couples postponed the divorce because of their financial difficulties, said Lili Vasileff, president of Divorce and Money Matters, in charge of financial planning. Now, she says, the health of the economy and the labor market may push some older women to end their marriage because they can more easily find a job to supplement their income.