Using those numbers for a family of 6, that means each of the parents are foraging 10.5+ hours a day to make sure everyone is fed (no, your 1-year-old isn't doing any meaningful work). And that meets only one of the basic needs for survival. More hours per day must go into meeting those other needs as well. Shelter, potable water, clothing, medicine, and heat doesn't come free. Far, far from it.

As I said, what happened most of the time was hard as fuck work to make sure you and your family survive.