My grandfather worked for most of his life and by the time my grandfather passed away in his 80's he had been living in poverty for quite some time. It had gotten so bad that he actually had to use money from his life insurance to be able to pay the bills and when he finally died there was barely enough life insurance left just to pay for a simple cremation.
As for my dad, he also worked for most of his life, mainly doing physical labor jobs like cabinet making and being an auto mechanic. Eventually he had to file for disability because all those years of lifting those heavy car engines by himself took a toll on his back and now he has permanent back pain from his back injuries that he'll have to live with for the rest of his life. He got the disability and now both my parents are living on the pififul disability checks they receive each month. I've done the math and both their disability checks combined equal less than what a single minimum wage worker makes in my state. So, not only did my grandparents live in poverty but my parents do too.
I'm in my early 30's and honestly I've only worked two weeks in my entire life and only half a day of that was paid work. So my mom asks why I don't get a job and so I tell her what, so I can end up like dad and his parents before him, working for most of my life just to end up in poverty anyways, hah not worth it. I also found out that anywhere from 20% to 25% of my city lives under the poverty line so getting a job around here isn't going to get you anything. I've come to believe that working doesn't actually make you money, it just makes you poor.