Some families need their teenagers to start working early to help pay for things...
We were poor when I was growing up, so I started babysitting to get spending money. I made a dollar an hour. I got taken advantage of and later learned that my peers were making $5 an hour. They lived on the rich side of town. The rich get richer the poor stay poor.
I see where I live now that 14 seems to be the starting age for kids to go work on farms or at Dairy Queen.