日子很难过 meaning in English

in those years he had a very hard time making a living for his family

In those years he had a very hard time making a living for his family .
日子很难过。
After i got kicked out of the army , i went through a real bad time
我被军队开除之后日子很难过
You might think that china ' s media have been having a hard time in recent months : editors sacked , reporters jailed , new curbs announced on what they can report , new clampdowns on the internet
您可能认为中国的媒体最近几个月日子很难过，编辑被炒，记者被关，限制报道内容的新条文出台，某些网站被取缔。