freedom from abusive homes, permitting them to go job hunting on their own

While i see what you’re saying, i think the lede is buried. the important change in law is here:

The state also no longer has to verify the age of those under 16 before they take a job.

The state isn’t even checking how old these children are. And the younger a kid is, the more easily they are exploited. And the power dynamic between boss and kiddo is worse. All this will do is make kids easy to exploit

I don’t have to tell y’all, right? How many hours got stolen from you as kids? Or what kind of crap did you put up with before you knew better?