Active Older Americans and Opportunities for Employment. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Retirement Income and Employment of the Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, First Session (Redding, California).

This document is a transcript of a Congressional hearing on the employment opportunities and problems of older Americans. During the hearing, representatives from various social service agencies, local government agencies, and senior citizen groups, along with some employers of older workers, testified about the problems that older persons have finding employment and about their needs for more income. Some of the issues raised in the testimony and prepared statements submitted by the witnesses included the disincentives that retirement plans and forced retirement create for older workers, the earnings test of Social Security that makes it less desirable for older persons to work, and the stereotypes many employers entertain in refusing to hire older workers. On the other hand, some employers who have hired older workers testified that the seniors make extremely reliable, dedicated, and able employees, and that they often surpass younger workers in knowledge and devotion to the job. Suggestions were made for legislation that would increase the age discrimination prohibition age, and provide financial incentives to private sector employers to hire older persons. (KC)