If “being paid” means not only that children get money, but also that the people paying them are motivated by profit, that creates bad incentives on the part of those people. If children are paid but parents still have control over the children and the money, that creates bad incentives for the parents.
To be clear, there are plenty of good reasons why one might not want children to work. You might want them to be able to enjoy childhood without the burden of a job, you might want them to focus on learning to be more productive later. But “the people paying them are motivated by profit” is equally true of adult jobs.
If “being paid” means not only that children get money, but also that the people paying them are motivated by profit, that creates bad incentives on the part of those people. If children are paid but parents still have control over the children and the money, that creates bad incentives for the parents.
How is this different from adults having jobs?
To be clear, there are plenty of good reasons why one might not want children to work. You might want them to be able to enjoy childhood without the burden of a job, you might want them to focus on learning to be more productive later. But “the people paying them are motivated by profit” is equally true of adult jobs.
The question was how this is different from school. Adults having jobs is also different from school.
In addition, the part about parents having control over children and children’s money doesn’t apply to parents of adults with jobs.