"If you live in Canada or, say, France, you are probably amused by this little thought experiment. And possibly drinking a beer from a small and dainty glass."
Not really. Yes we have one year parental leave here in Canada, but the $$ value of that is not very high all things considered. It's not enough to live on on its own. Maximum in Ontario right now is $595 CAD a week for the highest income earners and lower than that (2/3rds of pre-leave earnings) for others, and rents and housing have climbed very high, so in reality you still need a working spouse to make ends meet on that.
So, no, we're not laughing, but we do have sympathy.