dr. rix. dr. rix: thank you for inviting me to testify today about the challenges and opportunities involved in prolonging working life. prolonged employment stands to benefit employers facing labor and skill shortages and the economy. it can also enhance the retirement security of workers and their families by increasing social security benefits by as much as 8% per year, by giving workers more time to save and benefit from a 401(k) match if offered, and by reducing the number of years spent in retirement unless the supplemental income is needed for retirement years. workers are already remaining longer in the workforce. one statistic highlights this point. among persons 55-69, those we've traditionally thought of as retirement age, the labor force participation rate has risen from about 18% in 1985 to over -- to nearly 32% in 2014, by over 70%. we cannot credit any single policy or program for higher participation rates at older ages. the older population is extremely diverse and responds i

dr. rix and go to ms. hannon. and i'm going to ask you to turn on your might. thank you. ms. rix: you mentioned one of the federally funded training programs for older workers. you are quite correct that we have not invested the federal .esources in older workers it it appeared they were singled out in the job training partnership act. for example, there was a special set aside for older workers that did not make into the workforce investment act and they have been singled out once again as a group with a special barriers to employment in the workforce innovation opportunity act. we need to do -- what i would recommend is more older worker specialists in the american job centers that could help older workers be directed toe programs in the community that would provide them with the appropriate skills. i'm not suggesting that the federal government set up special programs along the lines of the senior community service employment program, but rather, make the financial resources available to w

dr. rix, skill development programs, and if you and ms. hannon have mentioned the importance of skill development, but several skill development -- federal skill development programs are aimed at young workers. we have excellent apprenticeship programs, for example, that are aimed at people who are just coming out of community colleges for technical schools. we have other programs that tend to be aimed at people who are younger. and yet it may well be that an older worker, particularly one who has been out of the workforce for a while and has difficulty, as ms. hannon pointed out, in coming back into the workforce, may need a refresher on their skills or entirely new skills. i see this in maine, where we have had paper mills closed down, and people have worked for decades making very good paper and they are excellent papermakers, but that is what they have done their whole lives, and they are frequently in the 50's and all of this is in their face with having to switch careers. so i would be