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The answer to this question depends on how 'working'is defined. I believe that from an early age, children should be involved in participating with household chores. I'm not talking about slave labor here, but surely this kind of interaction is beneficial to a child's development. If a child learns how to help around the house at an early age, these 'chores' will become part of their daily routine up until the age they leave home. I know so many young people who leave home and can barely survive because they have no idea how to perform basic tasks such as operating a washing machine or vacuum cleaner. Of course, laziness is also a factor here. But why would a person bother learning how to perform such tasks if somebody else (parents)had always been there to clean up after them?
Why are so many young people hanging around on the streets at night, underage drinking and worse? No motivation to work. They rely on their parents to provide their food, clothing and pocket money, while they obliviously waste their free time. I worked from the age of 13, which kept me off the streets and taught me the value of money. I helped out at home in return for pocket money from the age of 9, which not only taught me to look after myself in the future, it also kept me in the good books with my mum, and at school, and I never got into trouble hanging out on the streets. Again, I learned the value of money, and I believe that it is because I 'worked' from a young age, that I am successful, knowledgeable, and understand the true value of money today.

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