Regarding India & China, these two countries experienced rapid industrialization that have changed their demographics.

Your example proves the OP's point: these are not individuals "self-helping" themselves to a better life - there are structural changes that underlie the changes in their condition.

Furthermore, as in India, there is a developing caste system in China. The one-child policy has led to the concept of "three generations" - where those of the grandparents and parents generations have built the societal ladders that the second and third generations climb on. Jobs, universities, positions in government organizations are becoming inherited.

Check out the Kong Yiji internet memes and cultural references for how youth in China increasingly find themselves unable to advance, just as social mobility has slowed in other post-industrial countries.