"you and your peers would have had more time to spend on education and the net personal and economic benefits would have been positive."

I think you drastically underestimate the value of work as it related to self actualization, determination and long term success as an adult.

Fortunately, we have a bit of an A/B test going on in America right now - rural youth in many parts of the country have no meaningful work and no home-economic structure into which to pour their energy and time. News headlines lead me to believe this is going poorly:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/us/opioid-crisis-epidemic...