Does hard work pay off?

[Boston Bread]

For the most part it can get you from being poor into the middle class assuming you were born into or immigrated into a developed country. I'm speaking on behalf of my own family's experience. Unfortunately, many poor or working class folks have other problems that prevent them from working hard in a way that advances their socioeconomic class, or were born in the wrong place.

Hard work isn't generally what gets you wealthy though, that depends more on luck.

[Boston Bread]

I suppose if you're counting the people born into, then yeah, but for the people that actually made the wealth....well very few of them didn't involve a lot of hard work.  A few young artists, maybe, but if they were unable to work hard they probably didn't keep that wealth.

What I meant is along the lines of: there is no situation where hard work can't help - but just through hard work alone the chance of becoming wealthy is small. So my opinion is that luck played a bigger role than hard work for most of the rich.

Plus there are plenty of types of hard work that don't lead to wealth, like caring for children, but are still necessary.