The Department of Labor Women's Bureau held 20 roundtable discussions and 4 public hearings in 1991 and 1992 to assess the success of government training and job assistance programs in meeting the needs of midlife women. During the discussions and hearings, more than 500 women between the ages of 35 and 54 shared their personal experiences, and front-line program workers and advocates provided testimony. Deficiencies in existing Job Training Partnership Act programs were identified along with general barriers to work and training encountered by many midlife women. Recommendations for eliminating the identified program deficiencies and barriers to employment and training were compiled directly from the testimony. According to the testimony, the typical midlife woman in today's workplace is a high school graduate with some college, lives in a metropolitan area with her husband and at least one child under the age of 19, works full time in a traditionally female occupation, earns more than both older and younger women in the work force, is at greatly increased risk of falling below the poverty threshold if she is the primary support of her family, and is fully insured by social security but not covered by an employer-financed pension or retirement. (Contains 19 tables.) (MN)