nah man i had older relatives who were raised like that: daddy was out working from dawn til dusk, mom was handling the 7 children alone most of the time, without modern appliances. delegating some of the work and chores to the older kids was a matter of absolute necessity, otherwise there's simply not enough hours in a day to make ends meet. and this wasn't just about older teenagers, i'm talking stuff like the 9 year old is in charge of making the younger ones get up, get dressed, get breakfast, and get to school on time. in some rural places schools had holidays specifically so the kids could stay home and work all day when the harvest was being brought in.
in general kids can deal with a lot more hardship than what modern westerners give them credit for, they don't have to be fragile and helpless and incompetent unless they're raised to be that way.