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"My two high schoolers had he** finding part-time jobs mostly due to LAWS against hiring under 18 yrs. & insurance companies refusing to insure if you employ those under 18."

McDonalds (I know from experience) will hire starting at 16 when able. There are plenty of laws governing under-18 workers, and it can be difficult to work around those laws in some states. New Jersey, however, is a very liberal (in terms of government) state, and McDonalds has no problem working around their liberal child labor laws. Also, college students are often in the same position as high school students when it comes to jobs. They need something that's easy, flexible, and which pays them something. Minimum wage doesn't do it for the house, two cars, and kids, but it does just fine for a young adult or child trying to get some spending money. If you go a step up the ladder (Walmart, etc), a regular person can use it as supplemental income, or as something to help them get by until they can get into a good-paying job if their particular skills are not high in demand at a given time.

Thanks, but I'm almost out of the teen-age business.

But, honestly, here in 'small town' TX (since the invasion) it was very hard for my son to find any kind of job before 18.
Construction, mechanics, factory, WAL-MART, oil field, all had to be 18.....he finally was able to sack groceries & (luckily) mow a few lawns.

My girl did go to work for a FF joint @ 16 for $5.15 p.h. & was rewarded by the 'Captain' (after 6 mos. excellent work) with a WHOLE 5 CENT p.h. *raise*......& this was last year..... so far I haven't found anyone who can recall such a measly *raise*.