"It's tough going" means "it's difficult" or "there are a lot of problems".

Here are some situations that can be described as "tough going":

• A sports team's losing season:

  It's been tough going for the Lakers this season.

• A country's bad economy

  It's tough going for millions of unemployed Brits right now.

• Emergency workers' effort to help people after a large natural disaster

  Rescuers are desperately searching for survivors, but so far it's been tough going.