I honest see it as a bit of both. Given enough time, anyone can make due for themselves. Not everyone is going to be making $100,000 but it's not hard to pull $40-$50 by the time you're 40. Getting yourself stuck in a dead end job early on rather than working on improving your skills or jumping ship to someone that gives raises (aka not a government office job) is on you. Having kids without much or any savings is also on you being as no kids allows you to save on not only food and clothing but also cheaper rent from not needing such a large house.

At the same time, it's hard to get any start when you start from nothing. If you lack something as simple as a car it can be hard to get a start. Buses run on shitty schedules and walking is impractical for more than a couple miles. Sometimes the two have to be combined due to many places not being within 3 miles of a bus stop. What about parents? Well they don't have a vehicle either so that's out of the question. If you live in a state that charges for IDs it can also be hard to dig up the $40 for that when you have to choose between eating for the next two weeks or having a valid state ID.

This is of course minor in the long run. In 10-20 years you should be able to look back at how you improved. I'm not talking the stereotypical "Just pull up your bootstraps" metaphor but instead "Start saving early on and don't waste time on useless stuff". College works for some but not for all, and unless you know there's jobs in a subject why bother working 4 years and going into debt over it? There's other alternatives like trades that pay well enough and you're almost guaranteed a job.