[Slonopotam845]

I thought exactly the same thing - it will just make businesses not want to hire women of child-bearing age.

Anyway a year fully off is not what all new parents need or want - they need flexible working arrangements for at least a decade. New mothers actually don't want to be stuck at home alone with the baby for a year generally. They want to continue to have some personal interests which give them a sense of self and ensure they can be productive members of the community as well as mothering. Obviously mothering takes precedence but there is a serious depression and hopelessness that arises from having absolutely jack intellectual stimulation or decent social contact, especially when you're sleep deprived.
Just a little bit of a sense of being involved in a community is all that's needed and those damn stupid 'mother's groups' are just pathetic - any intelligent woman finds them akin to being on the set of one of those shows like Jerry Springer - seriously!!!!
Once upon a time we raised our children as a community with each parent and extended family members taking different degrees of a role at different life stages for the child. Obviously when you're breast-feeding you need to be constantly with your baby, but this should not preclude you from having a life as well - in fact its great stimulation for the baby as well.
One of my best friends had her first child while we were towards the end of uni (her husband was at a different uni) so she was allowed to bring the baby into the back of lecture theatres to breast-feed if necesary and there was the option to leave the baby at the care centre for naps etc while she attended lectures. This was a great arrangement - she was minutes away if needed and yet able to continue to educate herself.
On the other hand my mother had to leave uni after gaining honours in law in her first year of study, because she became pregnant with my older brother. The world indeed improved on this front over that generation but they really need to think more flexibly on these things! Parenting duties don't suddenly go away after 12 months!!!!!!!!
Flexible work hours and arrangements such as allowing remote log-ins etc would solve a tonne of other problems as well - traffic congestion to name one!