Retail jobs or similar roles with a lower hazard rating? Sure, why not. But mining, construction, or processing facilities? Probably not.
https://time.com/6256728/meatpacking-child-labor/
> More than 100 children—some as young as 13—were employed in hazardous jobs cleaning equipment like skull splitters, brisket saws, and bone cutters in meatpacking plants in eight states over the course of three years, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) says.
> Last November, DOL first accused PSSI of employing 30 minors, and a court granted the government a temporary restraining order to stop what a judge called “oppressive child labor.”
Read the link, it’s too much to cite it all here, but it’s damning.
It is 100% designed as a gift to a major industry in the state to avoid fines[0] when they knowingly employee underage immigrants, primarily Hispanics from Central American, who are easily exploited both in pay and safety.
"On top of that, Senate File 167 would also free businesses from civil liability if a teen gets sick, is injured or killed on the job due to the company's negligence or the teen's negligence. The businesses would only be liable for "gross negligence and willful misconduct"—a much more difficult thing to prove in court."[1]
[0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/02/17/child-lab...
[1] https://www.newsweek.com/iowa-bill-relaxing-back-child-labor...
I went to college after a summer doing day labor. I knew I was unwilling to do that work for those wages long. It also paid for much of my first year.