I'm from the North of England, terrible poverty for the working classes (which I am) and I saw some of it first hand at a museum on Sunday. They were telling us the conditions the miners worked in, you can imagine I'm sure. It'd be so dark they couldn't see what they were mining, so they'd spend all day chipping away only to get to the surface and find they'd mined the bad stuff and not get paid for it.
Then if they died (and one died every 6 hours) their wives would have 2 weeks to get out of the house they got with the job. They could either marry another miner straight away to keep the house, go to the workhouse, or become prostitutes to provide for their kids.
Then my Great Grandpa abused my Great Grandma, wouldn't wanna see that, and relatives died in both wars etc.
That was just 100 years ago, and even that is better than the lives many lived back then and still live today, but it wasn't fun for my ancestors at all.
Quite sobering really, better than being a slave or a street kid though.
So I'm pretty sure that my generation of my family have it considerably better than any that went before it.
Now other people's ancestors, sneaking into Henry 8th's court, being on the grassy knoll in Dallas, watching the magna carta being signed and generally being appalled at everyone's personal hygiene, I'm up for that! 