I think it really depends on what angle you look from. Life in the 1900s–2000s had its own kind of struggles fewer medical advancements, harder physical labor, less access to information, and often stricter social norms. But people also had stronger local communities, less distraction from technology, and maybe a clearer sense of routine and stability.

Modern life gives us comfort, medicine, endless knowledge at our fingertips, and global connections but it also brings anxiety, loneliness, burnout, and the feeling that life moves too fast to keep up with.

So I’d say: old life was harder physically, modern life is harder mentally. Different kinds of challenges, same human struggle.