It can, but not it’s usually currently done, for just the reasons you cite. Part-time work frees up women to do more “second shift” unpaid work during the day, so in that way it helps promote balance, but in the US, part-time work comes at a huge cost. When I worked part-time, I paid part of the cost of my own health insurance and would have had to pay all of my daughter’s; as a full-time employee, I get both policies completely paid for. I have access to retirement saving that I didn’t have before. I also get disability and life insurance which was not available to me as a part-timer, and I have paid sick leave, which I also didn’t have. Many of those issues don’t apply – or apply differently – in Australia, where everyone has health insurance (and I don’t know about disability insurance or sick leave) but in the US part-time work carries both a stigma (“you’re not really serious about your career”) and a financial cost.