Conscription stripped households of their primary breadwinners across Egypt.

Evidence

Moreover, the army, since it was a conscript army, changed the lives of thousands of Egyptians who were dragged into its service and radically changed the lives of their families who were often left behind trying to do their best after losing an important, if not also the primary, bread winner. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 75