If I could work 26 weeks a year for half my current salary I'd do it in a heartbeat.

But the labor market doesn't work like that.

What prevents you from going freelance and working on shorter contracts?

Lack of benefits, job security/confidence you will find 6 out of 12 months of contracts on a regular schedule. You'd need to be pretty sure you could average out 50% of your pay (more like 60-70% to cover benefits and the extra taxes) over 12 month periods and have enough buffer to cover unexpected gaps. You also have to account for the unpaid time 'working' to find those contracts and the contracts may not be the same pay rate each time. Its doable, but its certainly not as straightforward as it seems on paper.

Yep, it's true for alcoholics, drug users, and gameaholics. I knew one gameaholic, which lived in hostel, and worked only when necessary. Most of the time, he played a game on his notebook.

It's surprisingly hard to find stable long term part time jobs paying more than the hourly min wage (which isn't enough to afford rent+food in most places)