Extra money is not to be despised. It buys automatic washers, tumble driers, dish-washer to make life easier and give more real attention-time to the children. It buys time off excursions, holibays. It may make the difference between a town flat and a house with a garden, a better environment for bringing up children.
For professional women there is another difficulty. To give up or even work part-time, probably means climbing painfully back on to the bottom rung of the ladder at 35 or 40 in galling subordination to younger and perhaps less able men.
Assuming the still-normal situation - mother at home - there are ways to guard against the imprisoned feeling. Any arrangement will do as long as it's regular and doesn't involve renegotiation every time.
For instance, once a week, a completely free day and evening during which the mother is relieved of all responsibility. She can visit friend, or go to a museum, spend all morning buying a pair of shoes and needn't come back until she feels like it. The only rule is she must go out, not hang around catching up on household jobs. It's best of all if combined with a regular night out for parent together. You can employ another family, or make it a Saturday when Father can take over-but that's less good.