Based on an extensive search of the available literature on older workers and their problems, this monograph provides a careful assessment of this literature and highlights some areas where additional research is needed. This report examines demographic changes likely to influence the size and characteristics of the older worker population in the last two decades of this century. A number of critical policy issues are expected to emerge as this sector grows in size and importance, and the report provides statistics and predictions related to those issues, such as (1) the expansion (or lack thereof) of employment opportunities; (2) age discrimination; (3) availability of health services for older citizens; (4) socioeconomic costs of supporting a relatively large retired population; and (5) retirement (both early and delayed) and retirement age policy. Other issues examined in the monograph include health, safety, and aging in the workplace; job performance and training of older workers; and part-time work and tapered retirement. Separate sections focus on the special problems of the older working woman, older minority group workers, and older rural workers. Other sections are devoted to such questions as employer practices, mid-career change, and relevant foreign programs and experiments. (CP)