Isaac Asimov commented that when boys drop out of high school it is sort of like they become premature men, so there is a social incentive to quite school. All of a sudden they have a job, money and are treated more or less as adults

Make it illegal to employ youth under the age of 19?

I started working 60 hour weeks the same summer I turned 17, but I had already finished high school, acing grade 13 calculus. Working the long hours for a year and saving the money got me through my first 3 years of University without student loans.