"desperate hardship" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
You can use it when expressing the extreme difficulty and suffering associated with a particular situation. For example: "In some parts of the world, poverty leads to desperate hardship for millions of people."
The rebels' audiences are sprinkled with Indians from isolated hamlets who know little about the conflict in the Chiapas jungles but who endure the desperate hardships that drive the uprising.
Those in crisis are the people so desperate to escape hardship, war, persecution and poverty that they have made a notoriously treacherous journey to Europe.
Some Syrian women have become so desperate amid the hardships and violence in Syria they have induced the birth of their babies early to be able to make their escape, she said.
In England at least, the most desperate areas of financial hardship are in cities.
Compounding the hardship of desperate Palestinians, or Syrians, worsens conditions for refugees and their hosts.
But if a flight is delayed, this form of electronic solitary confinement can last a lot longer — and pose a significant hardship for those desperate to connect.
Some institutions have hardship funds for desperate days and the government has the Access to Learning Fund, which provides extra money if you need help for your course or to stay in higher education.
A country desperate for relief from the excruciating economic hardships of the Depression fell in love with Shirley and her infectious optimism in "Baby Take a Bow," the 1934 film that was her first starring vehicle.
A massive response by the international community is beginning to ease some hardships, but many people remain in desperate need of housing, medical care, food, water and other necessities.
You are directly responsible for the desperate fate of millions of people about to undergo unimaginable hardship, while you talk cavalierly of moving to Canada or Europe.
