Yes, a 2 hour commute is insane in my opinion.
I also believe the work life balance should be balanced and I include the commute in this balance. With wife and kids I don’t want to and can’t be gone from 7am to 7pm or whatever it is.
I think the main problem is the work week based on Mon-Friday 40 hrs a week. If everybody else in the country/world is following this schedule then the part timer will be absent 2 days leading to delays or a full timer picking up where the part timer left off (in case of an urgent matter…there’s always those). If the economy goes down then the part timer may be the first to go, if work picks up the part timer may be asked to work more hours…
The price of homes, health insurance, kids education and so on would prohibit most of working only 3 days a week, at least in the major metropolitan areas.
Maybe a 5-6 hour day may be a better solution. Or working 3 days at the office and 2 days remotely. Flexibility is very important, specially when you have kids.