Like most of these things, the headline is probably misleading. You probably spend most of the 1500 hours as an apprentice.
From the article:
> If you want to do [an apprenticeship instead of training], you will need to complete 1000 hours of training at a barbering school, along with a minimum of 840 hours of on-the-job training.
> If you want to complete a barber apprenticeship to fulfill your educational requirements, you will need to become registered as a barber apprentice with the Rhode Island Board. You do this by submitting the Rhode Island Barber Apprentice Application. Once registered, you will need to work full-time under the direct supervision of a licensed barber for two full years.
> The Rhode Island Board allows you to mix formal education and apprenticeship experience, as well. If you want to do this, you will need to complete 1000 hours of training at a barbering school, along with a minimum of 840 hours of on-the-job training.
The options are 2 full years as an apprentice, OR 1000 hours of training + 840 hours as an apprentice.
It doesn't sound like that bad of a gig. You can start earning a living wage right out of high school, with a guaranteed promotion into a middle class lifestyle within two years. By that time, your college going peers will be deep in debt and still two years away from a real paycheck.
Not sure the dismissive tone is warranted. It's a craft that requires skill and training. Here in Germany it's a full vocational program that generally takes three years. You can only learn so much in a year and just like in any other profession after a year you're still going to be a beginner.
It’s ultimately better for the profession and for the state, as things like sales tax collections have higher compliance rates in established businesses.
They tend to incentivize the creation of industry bodies that see that employers are collectively represented, fairly compensated and that hucksters are kept out. When people start cutting hair in their home they're not going to run fabulous businesses, they're going to look for alternatives to accredit themselves because that signal is valuable, it's how people end up at lambda school or online rating platforms.
The 'ed-tech' sector that is emerging around unregulated professions is an example of what happens if you don't have licenses. You have a vulture-like companies that offer people pseudo-qualifications without representation or any real chance to judge the standards of their education.