> But 18 year olds are not kids anymore and are capable of providing just as much economic value as a 25 year old. TBH, this isn't even the most relevant argum

> But 18 year olds are not kids anymore and are capable of providing just as much economic value as a 25 year old. TBH, this isn't even the most relevant argument here. We don't have minimum wage laws because we think that every person produces at least (say) $15/hr of economic value. We have minimum wage laws because we believe that no human being should have to work more than 40 hours a week to earn enough to live. And there are 16-year-olds who are working to provide for their families (parents are dead, or disabled, etc, etc).