Intended to help state planners, this paper focuses on the availability of information regarding the economic and demographic characteristics of adults and their participation and interest in instructor-directed lifelong learning. The first secion identifies sources of data on the economic and demographic conditions of adults that may be of use to planners in determining lifelong learning program needs, especially the Adult Education Participation Survey and Current Population Survey reports. Usefulness and limitations of these data are noted. The second section speculates on the implications that some of these data have for planning state level policies for lifelong learning. In section 3 are discussed shortfalls that might be encountered in designing surveys or interpreting survey results, including omission of appropriate information/questions, omission of tuition and fee or student cost information from surveys, failure of sampling designs to include a sufficient number of subjects, and inconsistencies within surveys. Section 4 makes these general observations about the future of lifelong learning as it relates to statewide planning: growth in the number of adults shows potential for more participation, financial support for lifelong learning activities will influence enrollments, disposition of state politicians toward lifelong learning is important to funding, and progress in planning and funding will be uneven. (YLB)