This is really out of my butt, but I do wonder:

* A lot of couples would really like to split the childcare more evenly.
* It would really be ideal, toward that end, if both members of the partnership could work part-time and take care of the kids the other part of the time.
* But there’s very little meaningful part-time work in this country.
* Part-time work is made even less of an option because health insurance largely only goes to full-time employees.
* But under health reform, you’ll be able to get health insurance through an exchange, if your employer doesn’t offer it to you. (Note to self: look up the details of who’s eligible to buy on the exchanges.)
* So some couples won’t need to send one partner into full-time work, because they’ll be able to get health-insurance with only part-time labor.

Obviously this isn’t a full solution, and obviously there are benefits to full-time labor that part-time labor still won’t be able to match. But at the margin, at least, I suspect this will lead more than a few couples to split the childcare. Which is a good thing.