It's tough in today's job market. We have challenges that past generations did not. Consequently, it's easier now then ever to forget the real reason we are all on this planet. I would never judge someone for being on welfare unless they resigned themselves to that state.
Pax
You also have opportunities they did not, such as a global real time communication system, free (or so cheap that they might as well be free) telephone calls and low cost international jet travel, plus an on line library about every conceivable topic which offers you a free education and the ability to quickly find and seek help from a large number of people globally.
This coming week I am working for clients' companies based in Kiev, London, San Francisco, Moscow and New York. It would have been impossible to do all that in a week 50 years ago.
Telephone calls to the USA in the mid 1980 used to cost over $1 per minute. Today I spend at least two hours per day on the phone or Skype to the USA at zero cost.