In providing an overview of the complex topic of mature women in the workplace, this report presents some of the known, and sometimes contradictory, facts about women and work. It is divided into three sections. The first section begins by detailing facts and figures regarding the older woman worker of the 1980s. Comparisons are made between men's and women's wages, and the meaning of work to women in their mid-years and later life is briefly addressed. Some of the seemingly significant indicators concerning the circumstances of tomorrow's older working women are then considered, including women in the work force, age and work, education, marriage and the family, retirement income, and health. The second section presents a brief history of women past 40 in the work force. The third section answers questions on older working women on such topics as reasons for hiring older women, barriers to full utilization of older workers, the issue of comparable worth, the effect of fringe benefit costs on employment of older women, advocated changes in Social Security, and stereotypes of middle-aged and older women as casual or nonworkers. (YLB)