I can only blame them so much. They were told one thing growing up and now the game’s changed. Many times the game has changed when they’re 35 or 40 years old. Plus, people don’t like to pack up and leave a town that has seen three or four generations of their family lived and buried there.
These are secondary excuses and not particularly good ones when the other choice is living in a tent.
When I was in grad school in the mid 80's, there were folks in their 50's going to class and it worked for them. I don't put much stock in the notion that just because you and your family have always lived in Bugtussle that you can't leave for greener pastures. Sure, it's tough, but not nearly as tough as it would be living in a tent. It's been a thing within our culture for over two centuries. There have been lots and lots of migrations of people chasing work, examples include the California gold rush, the Klondike gold rush, the Panama Canal, the space industry in Huntsville, AL, pre-Apollo, and there are many more examples. There will be one coming up shortly when EADS opens their new facility in Mobile, AL, to build the new fleet of Air Force tankers.
The work is there, but you've got to be willing to meet the employers at least half way, if not 3/4ths of the way IF your desire is to prosper and grow wealthy is strong enough. One thing is for sure, nobody is going to drop it in your lap. I seriously doubt those family members planted in the Bugtussle cemetery would blame you one iota if you left them behind for greener pastures to better you and your family's future.....