People who 'stop looking for work' are no longer counted as 'unemployed.' How do you stop looking for work if you need money to survive?

The official unemployment rate calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics excludes people who have not actively sought a job in the preceding four weeks, as they are no longer considered part of the civilian labor force." - from this article

How does that work? You still need money to survive but you've given up looking for work? You can't be on welfare forever - how do those folks survive?