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A movement to weaken American child labor protections at the state level began in 2022. By June 2023, Arkansas, Iowa, New Jersey and New Hampshire had enacted this kind of legislation, and lawmakers in at least another eight states had introduced similar measures.
They want more people in the work force. I've been working since I was 16. They just want to squeeze as much labor out of us as they can. Lower the age to 12 and that's 4 more years. Raise the retirement age couple of years, and put people in a position where they can't really retire (hence getting rid of student loan debt forgiveness). Hell, a lot of people already can't retire. We're born, basically have about 4 years off, then it's school, maybe college. Most people are already in the work force in some capacity by high school. And that's basically it. Work til we die. That's our life lol. Oh, except for the ultra rich. They don't have to do shit.