I can relate- as a 16-year-old teenager with soldering abilities, knowledge of OS X, Windows, and Linux (including data recovery) it was quite saddening / depressing (I honesly don't know the right word to describe it) to hear that I couldn't get a job, or even an apprenticeship at any of the local computer repair shops because I wasn't old enough.

This isn't a 1:1 comparison, because being young is a legal problem, but I definitely feel your pain- and the pain of others in that situation- it's a serious downer and quite demoralizing for someone to say no just because you don't have a certificate (in this case, a DL). It's honestly really hard to get someone to take a chance on you.