Hard work only requires a strong back and weak mind.
Prosperity requires a strong mind together with the conviction to succeed.
As for the women in the picture if they worked smart and gathered large piles of sticks and then sold or traded those sticks to others.
That would mean less work for them and others that gathered sticks plus the added value of free trade market.
The increase in trade brings everyone closer to prosperity and those women would be well on their way to being to millionaires
And the moral of the story is, " Don't blame virtue of hard work for your economic short comings. God gave you the ability to work and a mind never use one without the other."
Pat