I don't think it should be taken at face value because those ways could be the main ways to earn money, but it could probably be the least reliable or successful ways. This sentence could just be a lie taken literaly in which has a hidden meaning. This could be a meaning that you might not get, in which will leave you ripped off.
Boys were to go out and help; gathering supplies, hunting, contributing to their community and family Girls were to stay home and help out with the other women of the household, to make the food, etc.
